FayFoto archive acquired by Northeastern University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections

A leading provider of commercial photography in the greater Boston area for over 80 years, FayFoto Boston provides photographs on assignment for corporate, business, and non-profit clients. The archive consists of over 7.5 million negatives from 1963 to 2006.  

Daniel Lavoie, Collections Archivist, inspects the FayFoto archive before its move to Snell Library.

Steve Nelson, Partner at FayFoto Boston is excited that Northeastern University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections agreed to preserve the collection. “FayFoto amassed tens of thousands of images over the course of many decades of providing photography to Boston’s business and political communities” states Nelson. “As current owners of the business, we were acutely aware of two things: we weren’t going to be able to care for the archive properly, and we lacked the resources and training to make this collection available to historians and other interested parties.”  

The photographs in the collection cover a wide range of subjects, including business head shots, architectural interiors and exteriors, corporate event coverage, industrial photography, and product still life. Though the collection primarily consists of historical Boston business photography, it also has a broader local and national historical significance including celebrities, politicians, events, and aerial photography.

 

John and Jackie Kennedy at a Hyannis Legislature party. From the FayFoto collection.

Aerial photograph of Boston, 1960. From the FayFoto collection.

Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis. From the FayFoto collection.

            “The FayFoto collection is an amazing pictorial ‘who’s who’ of Greater Boston businesses and government” notes Daniel Lavoie, Collections Archivist at Northeastern University. “The addition of this collection and the Boston Globe archive positions Northeastern as a leading repository for the photographic history of Greater Boston.” Northeastern University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections plan on digitizing the collection, making it a valuable asset for the Boston Research Center at Snell Library.                            

“We at FayFoto are proud of the part we have played in documenting Boston’s history, but the value of this time capsule would be lost if it stayed in boxes in our studio” Nelson remarks. “We are grateful that the conservators at Northeastern’s Snell Library agreed to undertake the significant effort required to preserve this unique resource and make it accessible to others.”