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Written by Richard Weisgrau
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Wednesday, 07 June 2006 |
June 6, 2006 at 9:30 PM. I have just learned that Arnold Newman died this morning at the age of 88. I am saddened to tears. Our profession has not only lost an artist and icon who earned every bit of his celebrity by working so hard for it, but it has also lost a hero who fought along with other top rated photographers through the fifties, sixties, and into the seventies to make our profession a better one to be in. He is one of those rare individuals who decades ago refused to cave into the threats of never working again made by major publishers in their attempt to restrict photographers’ rights and fees.
When I entered this business in 1966 I reaped the benefits that Arnold and his colleagues had already gained. The day rate had replaced shooting on speculation. The principle of one-time rights for that day rate was established. The credit line with your published photographs was a given hard won by others. Arnold was part of generation of photographers and a leader in that generation who fought for things that photographers now take for granted.
When I served on the ASMP Board of Directors from the mid seventies through the early eighties, Arnold whose member number in ASMP was something like 88 (mine was 1152) would help us anyway he could whenever we asked. From 1988 through 2002 while I served as ASMP’s Executive Director Arnold would help ASMP in its efforts whenever asked. He used to tell me that he would be fighting for photographers’ rights until the day he died. Because I saw him as such an icon, I think I began to think of him as immortal. Today, that notion was dispelled.
It would understatement to say Arnold was a great photographer. He was certainly that, but more importantly he was a great photographer for decades on end. He started his career by photographing people in a department store in Philadelphia. In the peak of his career he photographed presidents of the United States in the White House and heads of state worldwide. In spite of his accomplishments he was not a conceited man. He was a proud man, and he had every reason to be proud.
A few years ago Arnold and I had lunch in a Japanese restaurant near his studio. He knew I was writing books about the photography business. He urged me to tell photographers not to give up their rights – what good is it to make good photographs and not own them he inferred. He went on to say that photographers always tend to sell themselves short and failed to recognize how valuable their images were to those who use them. He was then 85 years old, but he was still trying to improve his profession for others.
I have the good fortune to have two signed Arnold Newman photographs on the wall of my living room. I have always enjoyed looking at them. From today on I will see them a little differently. Until now they made me think I should call Arnold and say hello. From now on they will help me remember a wonderful colleague to whom I never made that call. Arnold is one of the last of the generation of photographers who would rather not work than surrender to the forces that would oppress them. Maybe that is why he did so well. He had integrity and the courage to back it up. I will miss him. We all should mourn him.
(c) 2006 Richard Weisgrau [contact] [bio]
Also see Portrait Photographer Arnold Newman Dies At 88 at PDN online.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 07 June 2006 )
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