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John H. Lawrence
Director of Museum Programs, Hired 1975
The acquisition of the Clarence John Laughlin Photograph Collection was a big moment that happened in the sixth year of my employment at THNOC. When the decision was made to acquire it, I began working with Clarence at his home, where the archive was located, two to three days a week. The ability to work with a major international figure in art was a big deal. He was 76. He was a little cantankerous, certainly opinionated, and glad for the recognition. The acquisition meant that his life and photography would be preserved. It also continued our early pattern of targeting large bodies of work for acquisition rather than focusing only on individual prints.
Working with Laughlin was very instructive. He had clearly thought a lot about his work, not only what it meant to him but also what he thought it should mean to others. Having him spell that out was very enlightening. As we went through the paper part Former staffer Susan Cole with John H. Lawrence,	of the archive, the correspondence and
1985	everything else, you could really see that
his vision had been built up over decades.
There’s one quote of his—“Everything, no matter how commonplace or ugly, has secret meanings—everything”—that kind of summed it up. Clarence looked upon photography not as a way to explain or explore the visible world but a way to look inside the mind or psyche of a person. He was always open to possibilities of what the world might present.
Clarence John Laughlin
1974; photograph by Michael P. Smith gift of Mrs. Clarence John Laughlin,
2006.0079.7.50
10 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly