Joseph Singer Collection
The Joseph Singer Collection is comprised of a sampling of the artist's black and white photographs and prints documenting many of Hawaiʻi's sacred places and a sampling of his experimental prints. Some of the works are alternate views of images for his book with Jan Becket.
Joseph M. Singer (1918-2010) was born in Pittsburgh and earned chemistry and chemical engineering degrees at the University of Pittsburgh. He made a career with the U.S. Bureau of Mines and moved to Hawaiʻi in the early 1980s when he retired. In his undergraduate days, he also studied drawing and photography, with some of his work shown in exhibitions. He rekindled his interest in art at the University of Hawaiʻi when he studied printmaking, photoetching and photogravure, the latter under noted printmaker Dodie Warren. He produced over 600 intaglio prints, photographs and other works of art and also became well known as an art historian. He was especially appreciated for his unique photographic record of Oahu’s heiau with co-photographer Jan Becket. Sixty of these photos were published in 1999 by the University of Hawaiʻi Press in Pana Oʻahu = Sacred Stones, Sacred Land. Singer’s prints centered on Hawaiian history as well as images of the Holocaust as part of his Jewish ancestry. In 2002 he was selected by the Honolulu Printmakers as the gift print artist for their annual exhibition. His print was the first photogravure offered as the gift print.
The Joseph Singer Collection was a gift to the library from his estate in 2011. The photographs and prints made available here are exclusively for educational use and study. Commercial use of the images is prohibited.
Joseph M. Singer (1918-2010) was born in Pittsburgh and earned chemistry and chemical engineering degrees at the University of Pittsburgh. He made a career with the U.S. Bureau of Mines and moved to Hawaiʻi in the early 1980s when he retired. In his undergraduate days, he also studied drawing and photography, with some of his work shown in exhibitions. He rekindled his interest in art at the University of Hawaiʻi when he studied printmaking, photoetching and photogravure, the latter under noted printmaker Dodie Warren. He produced over 600 intaglio prints, photographs and other works of art and also became well known as an art historian. He was especially appreciated for his unique photographic record of Oahu’s heiau with co-photographer Jan Becket. Sixty of these photos were published in 1999 by the University of Hawaiʻi Press in Pana Oʻahu = Sacred Stones, Sacred Land. Singer’s prints centered on Hawaiian history as well as images of the Holocaust as part of his Jewish ancestry. In 2002 he was selected by the Honolulu Printmakers as the gift print artist for their annual exhibition. His print was the first photogravure offered as the gift print.
The Joseph Singer Collection was a gift to the library from his estate in 2011. The photographs and prints made available here are exclusively for educational use and study. Commercial use of the images is prohibited.
