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    New York Press Photographers
    New York Press Photographers
    New York Press Photographers
    Ebook188 pages48 minutes

    New York Press Photographers

    By Marc A. Hermann and New York Press Photographers Association

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    About this ebook

    New York City has earned its place as the media capital of the world, and its newspapers have chronicled life, death, triumph, and tragedy. While people like Damon Runyon, Walter Winchell, and Jimmy Breslin are remembered for how they wrote about the news, the people who documented it visually are mostly forgotten. For many decades, photographers who captured iconic images for New York's newspapers did so anonymously--picture credit lines were a rarity. This is the story of the people behind the pictures, a history of the historians. In 1915, a group of lensmen formed a fraternal organization to promote their craft and support one another through hardship. A century later, the New York Press Photographers Association (NYPPA) is regarded as the oldest press association in America, and it still advocates for its members in an ever-changing field. At work or at play, New York's photojournalists are hardly the nameless, faceless bunch history would have us believe them to be.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 24, 2015
    ISBN9781439653401
    New York Press Photographers
    Author

    Marc A. Hermann

    Assembled by NYPPA historian and veteran photographer Marc A. Hermann, this collection of images, many from the association's own archives, shows that the cameras were often turned around, giving an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at how the news was covered.

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      New York Press Photographers - Marc A. Hermann

      history.

      INTRODUCTION

      There is history in everything, even in a business that is based solely on current events. It is amazing how quickly a story can become irrelevant and obsolete once something more urgent and, in the minds of editors, more important breaks. The phrase "What have you done lately?" may very well be the mantra of the news photographer. Thus, it is easy to forget that the people whose photographs illustrate our collective view of history have a history of their own.

      Competition between publications is fierce, and photographers are front-line soldiers in the battle for circulation and, nowadays, the quest for Web hits. Nevertheless, a sense of camaraderie was instantly recognized by the men who once lugged their Graflex cameras and cases laden with glass plate holders around town. Whether they were hustling for the Herald, the World, the Post, or the Tribune, these photographers shared a common bond and endured the same hardships. Tenement fires in freezing weather, uncooperative criminals, or fast-moving ball games were seen on the photographer’s ground glass viewfinder, and it was clear that working together, rather than against one another, was the best method. After all, no one was exempt from making a mistake, and if it was the other guy this time, it could be you the next time.

      As early as 1913, there was talk in New York City of press photographers creating a fraternal organization. Fate would intercede, however, and it seemed that every attempt to gather together would be preempted by one breaking news story after another. However, on April 17, 1915, nearly 60 photographers got together for a dinner at Castle Cave, a restaurant formerly located at Seventh Avenue and West Twenty-sixth Street. They called themselves the News Photographers Association of New York and endeavored not only to advance the photographic trade but also to provide a system of support for its members in case of financial or personal hardship.

      As the field of newspaper photography flourished, so too did the association. An increasing number of newsreel cameramen began joining, which caused a bit of disagreement within the ranks of the still photographers. Just who, exactly, was to be considered a photographer? Feeling ostracized, 61 newsreel cameramen left the organization in 1920, leaving only 78 members on the rolls.

      While it was made clear at the outset that the association was not going to serve as a trade union, it advocated for many issues that photographers were facing, one of which was the issuance of press credentials. The New York City Police Department was the responsible agency, since press cards entitled their holders to cross through police lines at emergencies—a privilege afforded to news writers but not automatically granted to their camera-carrying counterparts. Before long, photographers were able to obtain these essential tools for themselves through the efforts of the association.

      In 1928, a slight reorganization occurred, and the group rebranded itself as the Press Photographers Association of New York, under which name it incorporated 10 years later. Its officers now found themselves among the press representatives tasked by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia to vet and approve applications for press cards. When a major trial was to occur in the local courts, it would send a committee to meet with the district attorney to ensure adequate photographic coverage. No longer a secondary function of the fourth estate, photographers were being recognized for the historic images they were producing. Disasters such as the explosion of the dirigible Hindenburg were well documented, the Park Avenue elite were now accustomed to posing at their society functions, and the crack of the bat at Ebbets Field was echoed by the click of the shutter.

      While it is difficult to fathom today, celebrities tended to appreciate the press photographers. The respect went both ways, and photographers did not seek to catch people in compromising or embarrassing positions. The very nature of the cameras themselves—one shot, with one flashbulb at a time—made the experience of being photographed much less jarring than it would become in the era of repeated strobe flashes and eight frames per second. Out of this cooperation, the rousingly successful Press Photographers’ Annual Ball was born.

      Held in such venues as the Waldorf-Astoria and Hotel Commodore, these soirees would often not get under way until 9:00 p.m. and go on well after midnight. Headliner celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Cab Calloway, and Jimmy Durante were fixtures. Normally austere politicians could be counted on to attend and rub elbows with the photographers. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman enjoyed exceptionally cordial relationships with them.

      The advent of tabloid

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