Guide to the Kjell Sandved nature photograph collection, 1960s-2008

Kjell Sandved nature photograph C0020

Biographical Information

Kjell B. Sandved is a nature photographer who has traveled the world taking pictures of butterflies and moths. Trekking through the rain forests of Brazil and New Guinea and the jungles of the Far East, Sandved photographed butterflies in their natural habitat during the early morning and late afternoon when cooler temperatures kept them inactive. On moonless nights he attracted moths with portable mercury lights. Over the years, Sandved has found a fantastic array of shapes and patterns on butterflies including every letter of the English alphabet, smiling faces, red hearts, and animal shapes. Sandved also worked at the Smithsonian Institution Museum of Natural History. During his 32 year career there, Kjell Sandved has filmed penguins and seals in Antarctica, marine life and coral reefs in the Caribbean and Pacific, excavations of Early Bronze-Age Man at the Dead Sea, social behavior of orangutans in Kalimantan, and the world's largest flower, the Rafflesia Arnoldi, in Sumatra. He lectured with the Smithsonian Associates at schools and colleges around the United States on animal behavior and nature photography. Sandved has published two encyclopedias: The World of Music and The World of Art. He has also co-authored nine books: Butterfly Magic, Insect Magic, Shells, Butterflies, Rain forest and Cloud forest, Leaves, Bark, Butterfly Alphabet, and Spiders in the Smithsonian.

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Scope and Content

This collection contains thousands of natural history slides taken by nature photographer Kjell B. Sandved. Spanning a 20 year period, the slides represent the bulk of Kjell B. Sandved's work from the early 1960s through the late 1980s. Included are slides of flowers, fish, sea anemone, and hundreds of butterfly slides with identification information--family, genus, species, vernacular name, and locality--individually listed. In addition to insects and animals, the Kjell B. Sandved collection includes numerous landscape slides and images of people and objects representing cultures from around the world. Slides in the collection demonstrate a wide variety of photographic technique including wide angle shots, close cropped shots, aerial photography, microscopic photography, and underwater photography. Included with the slides is an original copy of Kjell B. Sandved's The Butterfly Alphabet and promotional material associated with his published works and his commercial photography.

Series 1 contains over one thousand Kodachrome slides of plants. The bulk of the series includes domestic, European and tropical flowers. Also represented are several types of tree, cactus and grass. Included within this series are slides of fungus. Images of flowers, trees, and fungus are categorized by family and species. The series contains over a hundred slides of orchids representing a wide spectrum of distinct orchid species. Slides of anthropomorphic plants are similar to those published in Kjell B. Sandved's books.

Series 2 contains several hundred slides of insects. Comprised of mostly moth and butterfly photography, the series also contains a wide variety of beetles as well as snails, mites, ants, weevils, worms and dragonflies. Many photographs from Kjell B. Sandved's published works such as The Butterfly Alphabet are represented in this slide collection. Photographs of moths and butterflies include full body depictions but also Sandved's familiar faces and letters found in their wings. The majority of slides are labeled with family, genus and species as well as their common name. Slides in this series are organized by family and type.

Series 3 is comprised of over 200 slides of landscape photography. Traditional landscapes, urban landscapes and seascapes represent Kjell B Sandved's extensive travels. The series contains numerous slides of the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef, as well as photographs of urban areas in south east Asia and the United states.

Series 4 contains hundreds of slides of animal photography. Represented in the series is a variety of species from around the globe. Subjects include domesticated animals such as cats, pigs and cattle, a large collection of animals indigenous to Africa, arctic penguins, and a variety of sea life. The series contains a large collection of Coral images including florescent corals. The series also represents a variety of photographic techniques including underwater photography, microscopic photography, and black light photography.

Series 5 contains general photographs spanning a 20 year period of Kjell B. Sandved's career. Included in the series are numerous photographs of museum artifacts and museum displays documenting Sandved's work as a scholar at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History. The series also includes a large collection of photographs of people from around the world. Many pictures of school children, indigenous tribes, and tourists represent the people Kjell B. Sandved met and interacted with during his extensive career. Also included are images of transportation, monuments and miscellaneous photography. Grouped with Series 5 is an original copy of Kjell B. Sandved's book The Butterfly Alphabet and promotional material for his other published works and Butterfly Poster series.

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Arrangement

Organized into five series:

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are use restrictions. Copyright held by Kjell Sandved.

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Related Material

Special Collections Research Center also holds the Edith McChesney Ker papers.

Kjell B. Sandved owns and maintains his own website Butterfly Alphabet.

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Index Terms

Corporate Names:

Geographical Names:

Subjects:

Document Types:

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Kjell Sandved nature photograph collection, Collection #C0020, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Collection donated by Kjell Sandved in 2005-2011.

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections Research Center staff. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in August 2009. Additional processing and EAD markup completed by Kristen Korfitzen in September 2011.

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Contents List