Ned Scott
[2] While living in New York and visiting the Camera Club, Ned Scott began commercial work with still lifes and x-ray tubes.
Scott spent the latter half of 1934 working for Paul Strand on location in Alvarado, Mexico to produce the Mexican funded propaganda film, Redes.
He masked the back plate of the camera to a 5 x 6 size at the suggestion of Paul Strand, thus producing exposed film which was a little smaller than usual.
Facial qualities of the local population were strong, perhaps due to the African American genetic strain within the group[7] but there was "an appalling amount of toothlessness".
Equipment on hand was primitive as there were no light boxes, cutting tables or bins to organize the film trims, and much had to be improvised.
[13] With his New York experience and recently finished film effort in Mexico, Scott began free lance work as a still photographer.
He was soon to come to the notice of producers David Loew, Walter Wanger and Lester Cowan for whom he photographed films in the latter half of the 1930s and early 1940s.
Over the next three years Scott worked with such stars as Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, Humphrey Bogart, and Janet Blair.
Even though he had no formal, institutional training in photography prior to beginning his Hollywood career, Scott soon found his still photographs published in books and nationally circulated periodicals.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored him with an 11 x 14 display of his character study image of Barry Fitzgerald as "Cocky" from The Long Voyage Home.
This exhibit was billed as a "Hollywood Studios Still Photography Show" featuring "Stars in Camera Art" in Fall of 1940.
[18] His association with the clothing company lasted from 1937 through 1942 and consisted of creating photographs showcasing their products in realistic settings using both male and female models.
Gantner and Mattern produced advertising products using these photographs, and national ads were placed in Vogue, Mademoiselle and Life magazines.
Most of the material in the auction circuit is from his Hollywood years, and these items are 8 x 10 prints on resin coated paper (RC) which were made by the photographic studios for promotional or film creation purposes.
[25] Actress and cast member Louise Platt wrote a lengthy letter to the Ned Scott Archive in support of this exhibit.
Ned and Gwladys lived for four years on Mesa Drive in Santa Monica Canyon, California and then moved to La Cañada where he raised a family including one daughter and son.
