Consists of photographer and author Margaretta K. Mitchell's working files on the life and artistic career of Ruth Bernhard (1905-2006), a German-born American photographer known for her black-and-white still lifes and female nudes. The working files pertain to two of Mitchell's projects involving Bernhard, Ruth Bernhard: Between Art and Life (2000) and The Eternal Body (1986).

A majority of the files relate to Mitchell's 2000 biography of Bernhard, Ruth Bernhard: Between Art and Life. These consist of research materials, drafts, galleys, jacket and page proofs, correspondence, contracts, financial documents, and publicity materials. The research materials include 16 audiocassette tapes containing sound recordings of Mitchell's extensive series of interviews with Bernhard and her associates, including Michael Kenna, Avery McGinn, David Holman, Gwen Evans, and Saïd Nuseibeh. The interviews were conducted between 1997 and 1999 and provided much of the biography's content. These are accompanied by notes and transcriptions. There are also a few photographs and contact sheets of Ruth Bernhard and her friends as well as photographs of her work. Files on various individuals include correspondence with Mitchell regarding Bernhard or the book project, notes and stories submitted to Mitchell, and occasional photocopies of correspondence between Bernhard and her friends and fellow photographers. Mitchell also contributed text for Bernhard's 1986 book of photographs, The Eternal Body. Working files for this project include several drafts of Mitchell's essays "The Nude: Symbol and Light" and "Toward the Light: Biography of Ruth Bernhard," a copy of an autobiographical essay draft by Ruth Bernhard, and related editorial correspondence, notes, announcements, and brochures. There are also a few original letters to and from Ruth Bernhard throughout.