History Custom Car Photographer Marcia Campbell 1932 - 2009

Thanks Rik,, what a Wonderful Picture,,, does anyone know,, what Customs Cars did she own,, (more than the 49 chevy convertible),, there must be more info + photos ??

 

Hey Rik, about the wheel covers in the last photo you posted of Marcia. Is that a Barris emblem? That is such a cool shot. Thanks. Slim

 

In the note she left on my website earlier this year she mentioned Barris also built a 1942 Ford for here. But I have never found out more about this car. So I don't know, if it was ever in any of the magazines or not.

 

No... not the barris crest on those. Its an aftermarket hubcaps...

 

This is gold! Thank you so much Rik!

RIP Marcia!

 

Great job Rik...Marcia Campbell's work lives on.

 

Her '49 Chev cvt was kustomized when it was brand new and sold to Bill Chuck a year later. She later owned a '56 Mercedes gullwing that Hershel "Junior" Conway did work on (according to Barris Kustom Techniques Techniques vol. 1).
I've been wondering why Carl Abajian's '49 cvt and Marcia's are close to exact copies of each other (though I can't remind seeing a photo of both cars together).
Marcia's '49 was a light blue color, "pasteral blue", while Carl's '49 was darker blue, "cromatic blue", but else there are copies of each other. Carl Abajian was btw a Barris employee.

 

So far I have never been able to solve this "problem either. The cars look so much alike, but nowhere it is written they are the same car, and everybody I asked cannot confirm this.


In the Rodders Journal article on Dan Post Marcia mentioned that she gave away here photos to the magazines to use... But I guess she wanted to be given credit for the photography. This note appeared in the January 1952 Issue of Hop Up magazine... about and article in Hop Up a month before.



And this is the article.
With the three photos mentioned on the right page (top is Jack Stewart Ayala/Barris 1941 Ford, center is Johnny Zaro 1941 Ford in beige, and bottom one is Richard Riuz 1949 Chevy...)

 

All speculation on my part BUT since Marcia was 17 years old in 1949 when she bought and had the Barris shop customize the very first 49 convertible in the state of California, I would imagine her parents were well off. Not too many 17/18 year olds could afford to do something like that. It would also seem to me that perhaps her parents actually owned the dealership, or were at least also into cars to "allow" or accept their daughter doing this. Coming from a well to do family might also explain her having the opportunity to afford developing alot of film, spending time in/at the shops, being able to afford hot rods and being able to give away her photography as oppose to selling to the mags. Of course, like I said all speculation but it sure would explain alot.

 

Just think... I do this sometimes to get a feel of where somebody "who was there" at the time, where they were. What did their street look like that they drove down everyday. Where all the old customs that would have driven by, etc. I'm not sure which house is Marcia's former residents but this is her street...

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
** My guess is that is it the Green one with the turret tower for the front door...

I just wonder what it would have felt like to drive that Powder Blue Chevy Cont. into one of these driveways almost 60 years ago.

(The address is from her photo copyright stamp)

 

Thanks Rikster , thats one interesting & very talented lady

 

Very nice tribute, Rik; thanks for that. I remember seeing lots of Marcia's photo credits in the early issues of Hop Up, and I have always thought her Chev was great looking, but I've never before read anything about her.

RIP, Marcia.

 

Marcia really helped George allot with his photography as you mentioned.. he spoke very highly about her.. We did talk about tracking her down for the DVD but like you also mentioned everyone we spoke with said she didn't care much about customs any more
and would probly not doit.. so I was bummed about that cause it would have been awesome to get here perspective on the hole thing... I sad that she p***ed cause like George she was a huge part of the capturing of the history being made..

The Sam book is UNREAL!!! Brett had it at the shop and I got to sit and look at it for
a while and I mentioned that the should make a book out of it.. just the picture scanned
exactly like it is ..even the cover.. will see if they take my advise..

one of the story George tell about the 49 is that he was doing some work on the hood
he was hammering one side of the hood and the other side would pop up and he would
goto the other side..start hammering that..and the other side with pop up!!! so he got frustrated and started punch holes in the hood with the back side of the hammer as Marcia walked in.. George got her a new hood the next day and got it right... Doh..

RIP Marcia Campbell Thanks for the great photos..

 

thanks Rik, that was great.

 

Thank you Rik, Rest in Peace Marcia ! God Bless !

 

Here are a few more samples of the photography of Jack Campbell. I'm almost 100% positive that Jack is a pseudonym Marcia used for unknown reasons. Possibly because a woman in the world of Hot Rods and Custom Cars was far less excepted then that it is now.

Some fantastic photos...










The previous cars where all Barris Customs, but Marcia also shot a few other none Barris Customs.
However the Ayala Bettancourt Mercury would soon after these photos had been taken end up in the Barris Shop for an complete redo and be known as a Barris Custom from then on.




Hot Rod article in the July/August issue of Hop Up Magazine. This very nice Hot Rod also appeared on the cover of this magazine which can be seen on the first page of this thread.



In the front of the magazine there is a list of names of the photographers that worked for this issue. Marcia is listed as the photographer on the article spreads but Jack is listed in the credits.




Marcia is also listed as photographer on several How To articles...

 

Thanks for the history lesson Rik. I think you are totally right, Jack and Marcia are one person. I'm sure she kind of had to 'prove' herself as a photographer before she could run under her own name. Someone out there HAS to remember this, maybe George?

It is way cool to see a girl building hot rods and photographing customs back in the day. Slowly we are finding more and more of them thanks to people like you!

 

wow...BTTT

1. Great talent and dedication in an era that would have been very challenging to say the least

2. More photo's required - awesome, want to see more

3. Call me romantic, but props to Rik for continuing to support those who so many have forgotten, appreciate the effort, and look forward to seeing more.

Cheers,

Drewfus

 

Correction.

I just found this photo in a series of photos taken at the Barris Exhibition at the NHRA Museum in 2007. The photo of the channeled 32 Ford Roadster with the two girls in it is has nothing to do with Marcia Campbell... well perhaps she took the photo. But the car is not hers, and she is not in the car either.

 

Thanks, Rik...You have done it again. Love reading your threads and learning about early custom stuff

 

More... Marcia also shot the Barris cars on this famous Motor Trend Cover.
She used her pseudonym Jack Campbell again this time.





The photos used in the article where also by Marcia... Some very nice photos.

 

I vividly remember that issue from back then, and still always think of those 3 Barris cars as some kind of a set.

 

Wow! Thanks so much Rik.

Truely fantastic... post's like this leave me awe struck.

 

She was kinda cute! RIP Marcia, and thanks for all the wonderful photos. Sounds like she lived a wonderful life.

Rik, I'm wondering why you think Jack was the same person as Marcia. Is it because no one remembers a photographer named Jack Campbell?

 

Rik,
I notice that a majority of Marcia's shots are taken from a lower-than-usual viewpoint. The three-car Motor Trend feature is entirely shot this way. We've discussed this low angle elsewhere, and I agree with your speculation that (1) she was using a reflex camera rather than a viewfinder, or (2) she did it to get a more dramatic perspective on the cars. Either way, it's a nice and distinctive look.

 

Various reasons... It started when I noticed the subject matter is most of the time the same. Usually both Marcia and Jack take photos of mostly Barris Custom Cars. And both take photos with the same style, the same eye for picking the right angle. Slightly lover point of view as 50Fraud pointed out, to make the cars look even ore impressive as they already where.

Plus Hop Up magazine has Jack Campbell listed as one of their staff photographers in the early years. But the articles always state (if it was mentioned) that Marcia took the photos.

The reason why she used two names is unknown right now. But I hope to find out in the near future.

 

Fantstic thread w/ fantastic pictures! I dunno why i missed this but i'll subscribe.
It must have been a blast back then.......altough i have to agree w/ Denise and her "speculation".

 

I have been trying to solve this myself. And it seems like they were two different cars. In the beginning I thought that Carl had purchased Marcia's car and repainted it. But in Hop Up & Motor Life Magazine September 1953‎ the story says that Bill Chuck bought the car in 1950, and that he still owned it in 1953. Carl's Chevy was featured in Custom Cars Trend Book no 101 from 1951, so I guess that 2 people couldn't have owned it at the same time

 

Right now I tend to believe there where two similar cars.
Dan Post Blue book from 1949 has the Carls car in it. And its also known that Marcia's car was built from the first 49 Chevy Convertible in California. So my guess is both cars where built around the same time.
It happened before. Johnny Zaro and Al Andril had similar 1940 Mercury's...

 

This is my 7th post to the HAMB, in an instant I'm
warped to the early days of Barris and the art that rolled 14 years
before I was born.
Thank you for letting me get a peek at what kustom meant then and the
inspiration to keep p***ing the "blow" torch!

Hola to the Chupacabras!