[PhD candidate at X University / Curator at Y Museum / Freelance writer for Z publication] My purpose: I am writing a peer-reviewed article on [the history of visual sex education in West Germany / the legal battles over photography in the 1970s]. I require scans of the following three images: [List specifics]. Usage: These scans will be used for analysis only. They will not be published without a separate licensing fee.
Dear [Estate Manager / Archivist Name],
The question is deceptively simple. It contains three crucial elements: an artist (Will McBride), an action (to show), and an object (scans). To answer this properly, we cannot simply say "yes" or "no." We must explore who Will McBride was, what "scans" implies in the context of his work, and the legal, ethical, and practical realities of accessing his archive. WILL MCBRIDE SHOW ME SCANS
If you are a serious researcher, your next step is to email the Berlinische Galerie. If you are a casual browser, you will have to make do with the low-resolution images available in academic textbooks or on historical review sites. The full, detailed, high-resolution scans remain guarded—and for many good reasons, there they will stay. [PhD candidate at X University / Curator at
If you have landed on this page, you have likely typed the phrase “Will McBride show me scans” into a search engine. You are probably a researcher, a photography student, a collector of vintage erotica, or a curator trying to locate high-resolution archival materials related to the controversial and influential German-American photographer Will McBride. They will not be published without a separate licensing fee