Tim Asch
Encyclopedia
Timothy Asch was a noted anthropologist, photographer, and ethnographic filmmaker
. Along with John Marshall
and Robert Gardner, Asch played an important role in the development of visual anthropology
. He is particularly known for his film The Ax Fight
and his role with the USC Center for Visual Anthropology
.
and attended The Putney School
. He studied at Columbia University
, where he received his B.S. in anthropology in 1959. While at Columbia, he served as a teaching assistant for Margaret Mead
, who encouraged his work in visual anthropology
. From 1950-1951, he served apprenticeships with Minor White
, Edward Weston
and Ansel Adams
through the San Francisco Art Institute
(formerly known as the California School of Fine Arts). He received his M.A. in African Studies from Boston University
(with an anthropology concentration at Harvard University
) in 1964.
. He also worked with anthropologist Jay Ruby
.
In 1968, Asch and John Marshall co-founded Documentary Educational Resources
(DER), a non-profit organization whose mission is to support, produce, and distribute ethnographic, non-fiction, and documentary films. Asch's film work continues to be distributed through DER.
Asch taught at New York University
, Brandeis University
, and Harvard University
, prior to joining the University of Southern California
(USC) in 1982. He became the Director of the Center for Visual Anthropology
after the death of founder Barbara Myerhoff
. During his period at USC, he was involved with the Margaret Mead Film Festival
.
Asch acted as Director of the Center for Visual Anthropology up until his death from cancer on October 3, 1994. http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/888.html The Spring 1995 issue of Visual Anthropology Review (Vol. 11, No.1) was dedicated to Asch. http://people.virginia.edu/~ds8s/VAR/var11_1.html
and Indonesia
to produce films widely used in education and research. They had four children together: daughters Caya and Kim, and sons Gregory and Alexander.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
. Along with John Marshall
John Marshall (filmmaker)
John Marshall was an American anthropologist and acclaimed documentary filmmaker best known for his work in Namibia recording the lives of the Ju/'hoansi tribe...
and Robert Gardner, Asch played an important role in the development of visual anthropology
Visual anthropology
Visual anthropology is a subfield of cultural anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media...
. He is particularly known for his film The Ax Fight
The Ax Fight
The Ax Fight is an ethnographic film by anthropologist and filmmaker Tim Asch, his wife Patsy Asch, and anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon about a conflict in a Yanomami village called Mishimishimabowei-teri, in southern Venezuela...
and his role with the USC Center for Visual Anthropology
USC Center for Visual Anthropology
The USC Center for Visual Anthropology is a center located at the University of Southern California. It is dedicated to the field of visual anthropology, incorporating visual modes of expression in the academic discipline of anthropology...
.
Background
Asch was born in Southampton, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and attended The Putney School
The Putney School
The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. It was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton. It is a co-educational, college-preparatory boarding school, with a day-student component, located outside of Brattleboro, Vermont. Emily Jones is the director...
. He studied at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where he received his B.S. in anthropology in 1959. While at Columbia, he served as a teaching assistant for Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
, who encouraged his work in visual anthropology
Visual anthropology
Visual anthropology is a subfield of cultural anthropology that is concerned, in part, with the study and production of ethnographic photography, film and, since the mid-1990s, new media...
. From 1950-1951, he served apprenticeships with Minor White
Minor White
Minor Martin White was an American photographer born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.White earned a degree in botany with a minor in English from the University of Minnesota in 1933. His first creative efforts were in poetry, as he took five years thereafter to complete a sequence of 100 sonnets while...
, Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
and Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
through the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
(formerly known as the California School of Fine Arts). He received his M.A. in African Studies from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
(with an anthropology concentration at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
) in 1964.
Career
Asch was known for the his work as an ethnographic filmmaker on the Yanomami in conjunction with Napoleon ChagnonNapoleon Chagnon
Napoleon A. Chagnon is an American anthropologist and retired professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was born in Port Austin, Michigan...
. He also worked with anthropologist Jay Ruby
Jay Ruby
Jay Ruby is an American scholar who was a professor in the at Temple University until his recent retirement. He received his B.A. in History and Ph.D...
.
In 1968, Asch and John Marshall co-founded Documentary Educational Resources
Documentary Educational Resources
Documentary Educational Resources is a US non-profit producer and distributor of film and video in anthropology and ethnology.It was founded in 1968 by independent filmmakers John Marshall and Timothy Asch and is based in Watertown, Massachusetts...
(DER), a non-profit organization whose mission is to support, produce, and distribute ethnographic, non-fiction, and documentary films. Asch's film work continues to be distributed through DER.
Asch taught at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, and Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, prior to joining the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
(USC) in 1982. He became the Director of the Center for Visual Anthropology
USC Center for Visual Anthropology
The USC Center for Visual Anthropology is a center located at the University of Southern California. It is dedicated to the field of visual anthropology, incorporating visual modes of expression in the academic discipline of anthropology...
after the death of founder Barbara Myerhoff
Barbara Myerhoff
Barbara Myerhoff , anthropologist, filmmaker, and founder of the Center for Visual Anthropology at the University of Southern California....
. During his period at USC, he was involved with the Margaret Mead Film Festival
Margaret Mead Film Festival
The Margaret Mead Film Festival is an annual film festival held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. It is the longest-running, premiere showcase for international documentaries in the United States, encompassing a broad spectrum of work, from indigenous community media to...
.
Asch acted as Director of the Center for Visual Anthropology up until his death from cancer on October 3, 1994. http://www.usc.edu/uscnews/stories/888.html The Spring 1995 issue of Visual Anthropology Review (Vol. 11, No.1) was dedicated to Asch. http://people.virginia.edu/~ds8s/VAR/var11_1.html
Filmography
Asch was a prolific filmmaker with an extensive list of more than 70 films to his credit.Marriage and family
Asch married Patricia Wood. Together they acted as partners with other anthropologists in AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
to produce films widely used in education and research. They had four children together: daughters Caya and Kim, and sons Gregory and Alexander.
Obituaries
- Wolfgang Saxon, "Timothy Asch, 62, Professor Who Filmed Remote Societies", New York Times, 8 October 1994
- Zsa Zsa Gershick, "ETHNOGRAPHIC FILMMAKING PIONEER TIMOTHY ASCH DIES", USC News, 17 Oct 1994, University of Southern California
Film
- Jayasinhji Jhala and Lindsey Powel. Morning with Asch. - 45 min. documentary (1995)
Text
- Abrams, Ira. "Anthropological Filmmaking: Anthropological Perspectives on the Production of Film and Video for General Public Audiences." Visual Anthropology Review. 5.2, December 1989: 18-24.
- Barbash, Ilisa and Lucien Taylor. Cross-cultural Filmmaking: A Handbook for Making Documentary and Ethnographic Films and Videos. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.
- Heider, Karl G. Ethnographic Film (Revised Edition). Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006.
- Japenga, Ann. "Visual Anthropologist in the Director's Chair", Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1987: Section 5, page 1.
- Lewis, E. Douglas. Timothy Asch and Ethnographic Film. New York: Routledge, 2003
- Ruby, JayJay RubyJay Ruby is an American scholar who was a professor in the at Temple University until his recent retirement. He received his B.A. in History and Ph.D...
. "Out of Sync: The Cinema of Tim Asch", in Picturing Culture: Essays on Film and Anthropology, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. - Jay Ruby, "Some Hurried Thoughts about Tim Asch and Patrick Tierney", Darkness in El Dorado Blog
- "Finding Aid to the Papers of Timothy Asch", National Anthropological Archives, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
External links
- Timothy Asch: Biography 2, Documentary Educational Resources
- http://www.der.org/films/filmmakers/timothy-asch.html, Filmography