Biography
Robert Vavra is an American-born photographer, who is considered to be the world's premier photographer of horses. Vavra was born on March 9, 1935 in Glendale, California. In 1958, with little money and no local contacts, he moved to Seville, Spain to pursue his interest in studying Spanish bulls. Vavra has written over 30 books, and his expertise has been used by a wide-variety of corporations, organizations and individuals ranging from the Walt Disney Company to Bo Derek to the Russian Republic. He has worked within the film industry on such films as Lawrence of Arabia, Patton and The Horse Whisperer.
Vavra meet James Michener in Seville, and the two developed a life-long friendship. Vavra often served as Michener's photographer and his photographs illustrated Michener's Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections.
Found in 2 Collections and/or Records:
Series
Identifier: Series 1
Scope and Contents
The series contains correspondence addressed to Robert Vavra from James A. Michener, Mari Michener and Nadia Orapchuck (Mr. Michener's secretary for many year), letters from Robert Vavra addressed to Michener and letters from Michener to John Fulton. These letters contain both personal and professional communication between Michener and Vavra, and specifically detail Vavra's work with Michener on a variety of projects including a great deal of discussion of Michener's Iberia: Spanish Travels...
Dates:
1965-1995
Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: JM041
Abstract
The collection primarily consists of correspondence between Michener and Vavra, miscellaneous correspondence from fans addressed to Michener, photographic images (negatives and contacts) of Michener, his wife and friends that provide a very candid look at Michener's life, and photographic prints of the images used in the book Iberia: Spanish Travels and Reflections. The collection also contains some restricted materials associated with Vavra's book entitled...
Dates:
1965-2005; Majority of material found in 1965-1985 Bulk Dates
