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Ralph Theodore Morse (October 23, 1917 – December 7, 2014) was a career staff photographer for ''Life'' magazine known for his inventive mind and his creative style. Encyclopedias and history books abound with his photos, as he photographed some of the most widely seen pictures of World War II, the United States space program, and sports events. He was most celebrated for his multiple-exposure photographs. Morse's success as an improviser led to his being considered ''Life'' magazine's specialist in technical photography.〔( FOTOfusion 2008: Palm Beach Photographic Center/Instructor Biographies ). Retrieved May 28, 2008.〕 Former managing editor George P. Hunt declared that "If () equipment he needed didn't exist, () built it." 〔("The Camera of an Inventive Genius" ), Masterpiece Online: The World of Art at Your Fingertips, Retrieved December 7, 2009.〕 During his thirty years at ''Life'', Morse covered every type of assignment from science to theater, from fads to spot news. When first hired by ''Life'' and sent to photograph World War II, he was the youngest war correspondent. His pictures documented the war's Pacific and European theatres and the post-war reconstruction of Europe. Morse was the civilian photographer at the signing of the surrender by the Germans to General Dwight Eisenhower. He was the senior staff photographer at the time when ''Life'' ceased weekly publication.〔(Gallery M, Ralph Morse ), May 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2008.〕 Morse photographed the NASA space program from its inception, an assignment which outlasted ''Life'' as a weekly magazine.〔 On November 6, 2009 LIFE.com unveiled a photo retrospective of Project Mercury, America's first human spaceflight program. Most of this photo collection is credited to Morse, as he had been exclusively assigned by ''Life'' to cover the space program. Over the early decades of the space program, Morse became an insider at NASA, providing him with the privileged access which helped produce some of the most iconic images of NASA projects.〔Cunningham, Grant. ("Morse Code" ), Revolver Liberation Alliance, November 6, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2009.〕 On July 15, 2009, LIFE.com published a photo gallery of never-before-seen photos Morse took of Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong in the days before their Apollo mission. In the gallery, Morse talks with ''Life'' about Apollo 11 and the astronauts who first landed on the moon.〔("EXCLUSIVE: Up Close With Apollo 11" ), LIFE.com, July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.〕 Morse held deeply the belief that photos lend a unique understanding to the world in which we live. Photographer Jim McNitt, who worked with Morse on several ''Time'' magazine assignments in the 1970s, described him as a fun-loving extrovert who was delighted to mentor an aspiring photojournalist. "Watching Ralph plan his shots, respond to editors, and deal with reluctant subjects with off-hand humor taught me things I couldn't learn in photo magazines or workshops," said McNitt.〔Small, Bill.("The Accidental Surrealist" ). Retrieved October 24, 2009.〕 Former ''Life'' managing editor George P. Hunt proclaimed of Morse, "If ''Life'' could afford only one photographer, it would have to be Ralph Morse."〔The Editors of ''Life'', John Loengard, and Gordon Parks (2004). ''The Great LIFE Photographers'', p. 382. Bulfinch Press, NY. ISBN 0-8212-2892-7.〕 == Early life == Ralph Morse had humble roots. Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx area of New York City, he lived with his mother and sister in an apartment where the income was $25 a week. At fifteen, he starting working in a drug store delivering orders every afternoon, and at a soda fountain every evening until 11:00 pm, making soda and sandwiches for the public. At DeWitt Clinton High School, he joined the school newspaper and was a dedicated student of journalism. Aspiring to become a newsreel cameraman but lacking the requisite $1,000 to join the union, Morse instead entered the City College of New York for free and took every class offered in photography. Subsequently, Morse looked up photography in the business directory called the Manhattan Redbook. Starting with "A", he went door-to-door visiting all the listings until finally being hired at "P" by Paul Parker Studio.〔 Paul Parker was a social photographer with such customers as the United Fund and the Red Cross, a type of photography of great interest to Morse. Paul Parker had a most fascinating capability of moving lights. Morse stayed with Parker for most of a year until hearing of a job of hanging lights for George Karger, a German banker turned photographer who was freelancing through Pix Publishing, an agency in New York that sold pictures around the world. Earning $6 a week, Morse worked with Karger for six months, at which time Morse realized that he had learned all that Karger had to offer. Then a job opened at ''Harper's Bazaar''. Morse only stayed at ''Harper's'' for a day, as he could not understand taking pictures that meant nothing to anyone outside the fashion industry. As one who delivered photos to Pix on a daily basis, Morse was readily hired by Pix to work in their darkroom. The first weekend as a printer, Morse spent a day with friends at Jones Beach on Long Island. Not owning a camera, Morse borrowed a 35mm Contax from his friend Cornell Capa, who was also a printer in the Pix publishing lab, as well as the brother of famous ''Life'' photographer Robert Capa.〔Serrano Esparza, José Manuel. ( "John G. Morris: An Interview with the Most Influential and Experienced Photo Editor in History" ), ''elrectanguloenlamano'', September 12, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2009.〕 At the beach, Morse happened upon a father throwing his baby into the air and catching him. Capturing the father and son on film, Morse immediately brought the pictures to Leon Daniel, the editor of Pix. Daniel proclaimed that Pix could sell the picture that very afternoon. Indeed, within an hour, Daniel had sold the photo to the ''Houston Chronicle'' and then sold it to about twenty other publications in the world over the following week. Morse continued working in the darkroom and continued taking pictures every weekend. Morse credits Leon Daniel as being the person who definitively encouraged him to become a professional photographer, as it was Daniel who urged Morse to just take pictures and let Pix sell them, noting that such an arrangement would be more lucrative both experientially and financially. Morse bought himself his first camera equipment and began buying ''The New York Times'' every day in order to select events to photograph, creating pictures which Daniel then sold instantly. Of the three owners of Pix, one was a silent partner, Alfred Eisenstaedt, the famous photographer who had left the Associated Press in Germany to join the new ''Life'' magazine staff in New York City. Eisenstaedt closely observed Morse's photographing while encouraging Wilson Hicks, the picture editor of ''Life'', to meet the young upstart at Pix. After weeks of Eisenstaedt's nagging, Hicks relented and asked to meet Morse.〔Chandler, Mary Voelz. ("Gallery M: Fine Art, Gallery, Sculpture" ), December 13, 2002. Retrieved on December 5, 2009.〕 At their initial encounter, Hicks gave Morse his first assignment. Not at all sure how he would actually meet the demands of the most important picture editor in the United States, Morse covered up his fear with gratitude. Between his own and Capa's equipment, Morse was able to cover the author Thornton Wilder's acting on Broadway in his own show ''Our Town''. The success of this assignment earned him a second—capturing on film women buying hats for their husbands in the basement of Gimbels department store—which turned out to be Morse's first photo story published by ''Life''. As a result, Hicks offered Morse a contract to work for ''Life'' one day a week through Pix, which amounted to about ten days a month of working for ''Life'' until the start of World War II. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ralph Morse」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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