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An action shot with a 4×5. You have to pay respects.

Camera 4 x 5 Speed Graphic

Film Kodak

In front of 60,000 air show fans Chet Derby was performing stunts in a biplane. For the final stunt Derby was carrying out an upside down loop-the-loop, leaving a smoke trail which 3 B-29 Superfortresses were supposed to fly through. Derby was an accomplished pilot having trained countless Army Air Corp pilots. At the time he was a crop duster and flew air shows for extra cash. He would do all sorts of stunts including a wing-walker. His stunt on that day came 5 feet shy of ending his life as the B-29’s came in too early.

Bill Crouch was also a pilot and and an off duty attendee at the show. He worked for The Oakland Tribune at the time and was taking pictures of the aerobatics. He was trying to get an artistic shot of the stunt plane Derby was flying. He thought the smoke circles against the blue sky were interesting and wanted to include the plane. He composed the shot as best he could when the B-29’s came screaming across the sky with their four engines each roaring at full power. With little time to spare he recomposed and took this shot as Derby flew upside down and missed the wing of a B-29 by 5 feet.

It has been two weeks since my last installment, longer since last I posted any work. I’m on a bit of a holiday, a break, taking a rest you see. I’m not sure how long it’ll be but I planned a month off.  Could be more but I’ll do my best to continue with these installments consistently.

Camera 4 x 5 Speed Graphic

Film Kodak

Lens 127mm

Shutter & Aperture 1/100 @ f5.6

George Herman Ruth (The Babe) is an American baseball legend of the roaring 20’s. I’m sure there are many of you that have never seen a baseball game in your life but you still know the name and the legend. His records stood for decades, some broken as late as the 70’s. He hit home runs on demand, womanised, trained with hot dogs and beer, loved kids and brought joy to many fans.

Many years after retirement fans came together to honour The Babe on the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium, 13 June 1948. He was ill from cancer and his body language showed this. Shoulders down, heavy head, using the bat as a cane he stood and received a thunderous applause from a packed house.

Nat Fein was the photographer behind this well thought out winner of the 1949 Pulitzer. The Babe standing apart from the players, hunched over, almost a ghost of the strong record making machine of his earlier years and yet still a man of men. His legendary number 3 worn with pride for the last time. The number was to be retired and Fein knew this. The impact of the number did more for this photograph than any front on could have. It was the last public appearance for the number and for The Babe. He would die two months later on 16 August. He will live on in stories and in this photo forever.

I must apologise for missing a week. I was too busy to even post a draft last week. I’ve actually been very busy this week as well but I’ve made the effort even though it is a rushed one. I hope you enjoy it despite my whinging.

Camera 4 x 5 Speed Graphic

Film Kodak

Lens 127mm

Desperation. It grips every one of us at varying levels. How far would you go? Could you imagine shooting a police officer at the age of 15 and then taking a hostage?

Frank Cushing was working the photographic beat one Summer afternoon. He was waiting to photograph a couple of victims of a hold up. In the car next to him a police radio put out an alert. A police officer had been shot, a hostage was taken and it was right down the street!

Frank abandoned his assignment and went to investigate the scene of the crime. Two police officers had stopped a 15 year old to question him about a robbery. The boy, Ed Bancroft, took out a pistol and shot one of the officers. He fled into an alley where he grabbed another 15 year old, Bill Ronan, as a hostage.

Both ends of the lane were quickly blocked off. Ed began to threaten the police warning them not to come closer or he would shoot the hostage. He fired a few times towards the police to show he was serious.

Meanwhile our photographer on the scene took a photo from the end of the alley. He knew the photo was a waste as he was too far away. The police began to move in on Ed. He again screamed his threats and backed them up with another shot at the police. Frank knew he had to move quickly to get a closer shot. He calculated which house would give him a good vantage point and knocked on a door. The owner let him in and Frank slowly made his way to the rear porch and took his photo that won him the Pulitzer for 1948.

A police officer made his way silently behind the fence where Ed was seen in the picture. He stood up at the right time and whacked him on the head with the butt of a weapon. As it turns out the boy had nothing to do with the robbery in question.

Frank later tells, “I was wondering whether the kid would shoot me, but I wanted the picture.” In an age where hold ups were rare and close photos due to the limited focal length even rarer, Frank’s photo was genuinely remarkable.

For week 5 we take a break from the war, 4 x 5 cameras and from press photographers.

Camera 2 x 3 Speed Graphic

Film Kodak

Lens 100mm

Shutter & Aperture Flash @ f4.5

The Wincoff Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia was advertised as fireproof despite not being fitted with sprinklers, fire escapes or alarms. It was built in 1913 and is the site of the worst hotel fire in American history and second worst in the world.

Arnold Hardy was a student at the time. He was returning home on 7 December 1946 after a date and heard the sirens of fire engines. Being a keen amateur photographer he rang the fire department for the location and caught a taxi to the scene. He carried his 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 Speed Graphic, a little smaller than the normal press 4 x 5’s, and 5 flash bulbs.

At the scene he was awestruck by the desperation on display from the occupants of the building. The fire trucks could only reach floor 9 of the 15 floor building. Guests tried to escape by tying bed sheets together that gave way leaving them tumbling to the ground. Some tried to jump a 10 foot gap to the next building but failed. A desperate mother threw her two children from a window and then jumped herself. All three died. It was a horrific scene on the ground and up on the higher floors.

Hardy made a few photos and was watching the scene as he heard a shriek. Turning up he saw a woman falling to the ground. He pointed his camera and fired his last bulb just as she was passing the third floor. Her body hit a pipe then bounced into a railing and fell to the ground. She miraculously survived. 119 others sadly did not.

Most of the survivors on the upper floors were the wise ones who blocked the cracks around their doors to prevent the smoke overcoming their rooms. I guess there’s a lesson in there for all of us.

Some sources – Documentary about this fire, a book, historical markers at the site and much more on the web.

This week we have an iconic image. It rates up there with the most reproduced images of all time.

Camera 4 x 5 Speed Graphic

Film Agfa

Lens 127mm

Shutter & Aperture 1/400 @ f16

Raising the flag on Iwo Jima was a historic moment post a historic battle. Iwo Jima was to be the first Japanese soil to fall to foreign hands in more than a millenia of pride filled history. It is the first place a foreign flag has ever flown over Japanese territory. You can imagine the crushing blow this dealt to the Japanese. Loosing this piece of dirt, which was a part of Tokyo although some seven hundred miles away, had a big impact on the morale of a nation.

Roughly 50,000 American troops stormed the 22,000 strong Japanese. After a month long battle on the 8 square miles of Iwo Jima, 7,000 Americans and more than 20,000 Japanese would die.

Joe Rosenthal was covering the fighting daily, his images of the Iwo Jima landings making the rounds on newspapers and magazines around the world. Five days after landing Rosenthal heard that Marines were raising a flag on top of Mount Suribachi. Moments after nearly losing his life in an overboard incident he climbed the volcano with two Marine photographers. Half way up he ran into Lou Lowery, photographer of the original flag raising.

Atop Suribachi Rosenthal captured an image of the the second flag raising we all know of today. The one that won him a pulitzer and was seen around the world, sold millions of stamps, raised money for the war effort, was the centre of controversy and cemented his name in history books. The story behind the photo has been researched by many people, discussed on message boards, in newspapers and numerous books. There are websites dedicated to the photo, statues, tv shows and even two movies directed by Clint Eastwood.