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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
371:, recommending that one reporter and one photographer go everywhere and do everything in which the astronauts were engaged. The editors chose Morse for the job, launching a thirty-year assignment and lifelong friendships between Morse and the astronauts and their families. After years of joining the astronauts as they trainedâflying weightless, diving undersea, studying rocks, surviving deserts and junglesâMorse was dubbed by them as the
239:, to meet the young upstart at Pix. After weeks of Eisenstaedt's nagging, Hicks relented and asked to meet Morse. 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
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artillery shellings, he observed a corpsman as both arms were hit. Morse was witness to all the surgeries, fed him his meals, and, in time, poured penicillin into his wounds. The photos of this soldier in pain and his arms being placed in casts, considered a model of effective photojournalism, are the commonly used pictures of the wounded of World War II. Morse was witness to the invasion at
285:. He immediately learned that not all of his photos would end up in print, as his first war assignment turned out to be a secret mission. War coverage was the ultimate on-the-job training, needing to learn on the spot such feats as descending rope ladders overloaded with both combat and photographic gear in order to accompany troops from ship to shore. Landing with the Marines on
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460:, Morse wanted to put the start, middle, and finish of the race in the same picture. He was able to place wiring under the track, but no place existed for situating the cameras. Morse had a hanging box built under the balcony in which he mounted his equipment. His assistant tripped the lights at the required intervals, and Morse made the photograph.
390:, Morse needed to devise new ways to capture subject matter never before photographed. He illustrated subjects that no-one had ever seen. He did his homework, gathering the necessary knowledge to make the desired photograph. He invented his own techniques for images such as a rocket launch. He photographed double exposures, he shot with
207:. 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
358:. He accompanied a Frenchman by open rail and hitched rides all the way from the German concentration camp where he had been enslaved back to the dinner table with the family members from whom he had been estranged for four years. He was the civilian photojournalist present at the signing of the surrender by the Germans at Reims.
443:, despite its being new and still slow in reproduction. Morse's shot of Ruth's downcast eyes with stands of fans in the background was distinctively captured in muted color tones. In response to Morse's being assigned to produce a picture that would show in one image Hank Aaron's entire 715th home run, he and fellow
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He did a most comprehensive story of a wounded soldier by braving a request to the
Surgeon General of the Army to certify him as wounded as well, so that he would become privy to all means of transportations, first aid stations, and hospitals as was his wounded man. Searching the battlefield between
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would try to steal home, Morse rigged the camera with a foot switch set to fire a hundred feet of film at ten frames a second. With his hand-held camera focused on the outfield, Morse triggered the foot button as soon as energy mounted between
Robinson and the pitcher. When Robinson made the dash,
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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
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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
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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. On July 15, 2009, LIFE.com published a photo gallery of never-before-seen photos
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Previously, when first photographing Dr. Cooley transplanting human hearts, Morse asked whether anyone had ever seen his own heart. Morse located a patient's recently removed heart floating in a jar of formaldehyde, and photographed Man's seeing his own heart for the first time. His previous
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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
309:. Morse's film and equipment went down with the ship while he trod water all night amidst destroyers dropping depth charges on submarines, fortunately scaring away the sharks and barracuda. With neither cameras nor clothing, Morse made a secret pact with Naval command to return briefly to
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experience with Dr. DeBakey occurred when the need for transplants outnumbered available cadaver hearts. When DeBakey was about to put a man-made left ventricle into a dying man's chest cavity for the first time, Morse requested to be present on the floor. DeBakey explained that the
523:, to watch missiles being launched. Morse retired to south Florida where he enjoyed sailing and boating, spending time with his companion Barbara Ohlstein, his four grandchildren, and his six great-grandchildren. According to his family, he died on December 7, 2014, in
162:, 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
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Morse and the late Ruth Zizmor Morse lived in Paris after World War II while he photographed the post-war reconstruction of Europe. Later, they settled in northern New Jersey, where they raised their three sons, Alan, Bob, and Don, as Morse's work was based out of the
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captured, as well, Morse kneeling and photographing Ruth from the front. As he stood addressing the public, and visibly weakened by cancer, Ruth leaned on his bat as a crutch. Morse chose to illustrate the somber mood of the dying hero's farewell by using
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magazine. He photographed some of the most widely seen pictures of World War II, the United States space program, and sports events, and was celebrated for his multiple-exposure photographs. Morse's success as an improviser led to his being considered
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the exact number of daily cancer-inducing cigarettes. Morse laid the smoked butts on a plate of glass and snapped a photo. Then he superimposed onto the same photographic plate a model silhouetted against black paper, blowing smoke out of her mouth.
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Just as with the astronauts, developing friendships with the medical people he was photographing opened doors for Morse that would have been closed to others. To illustrate an article about the schism between two
Houston heart surgeons, Drs.
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magazine and newspapers around the country ran Morse's photo; it proved to be the first horror picture released by the censors of World War II. Morse left the
Pacific with not just an accommodation for his photo coverage from the
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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
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photographer Henry
Groskinsky planned a multiple exposure of the pitch along with Aaron's hitting the homer, touching each base, and being congratulated by his teammates in the dugout. To make this photograph, they used a 4 X 5
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would not allow an outsider's presence in the operating room. The photograph was made when DeBakey hired Morse as a temporary hospital staff member for a dollar. In the deal, DeBakey gained ownership of the pictures, and
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with strips of black paper mounted on a glass in front of the lens. As Aaron approached each of the locations to be photographed, a section of the black covering was lifted from the glass, allowing an exposure to be made.
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A decade after photographing the post-war reconstruction of Europe, Morse received his next singular assignment: documenting
American preparations to explore outer space. He spoke to the science and managing editors of
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to confirm that he had kept his word. Guadalcanal grew a jungle so thick that accompanying nocturnal troop movement was filled with the risk of abandonment if one ever lost sight of the soldier's foot he was following.
489:, Morse photographed each of them alone against the same dark backdrop, presumably unknown to each other, on the same frame of film. The double exposure of the dueling doctors back-to-back became a
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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
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in New York to re-equip, but was mandated to tell no details of the sea battle, no explanation of how he lost his equipment. Unknown to him, he was being trailed by
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magazine's specialist in technical photography. Former managing editor George P. Hunt declared that "If equipment he needed didn't exist, built it."
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theatres and the post-war reconstruction of Europe. Morse was the civilian photographer at the signing of the surrender by the
Germans to General
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magazine staff in New York City. Eisenstaedt closely observed Morse's photographing while encouraging Wilson Hicks, the picture editor of
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The equipment Morse used for showing the space program served him well on his other assignments, also. When he photographed the
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Conventional photography was sufficient at the onset of Morse's coverage of the space program which began as an introduction to
253:. The success of this assignment earned him a secondâcapturing on film women buying hats for their husbands in the basement of
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in New York City. When schedules permitted, the family joined Morse on his photographic assignments, including journeys to
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readers of the astronauts themselves and their families; however, as the program grew in complexity from
Project Mercury to
894:"Rivals Reunite/Change of Heart/Renowned surgeons Cooley and DeBakey put their decades-old feud to rest at awards ceremony"
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During a daytime patrol, Morse came upon a burnt-out Japanese tank in a clearing with a skull and helmet on the fender.
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Morse won thirty awards for his photography. He received the 1995 Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award. According to the
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Aspiring to become a newsreel cameraman but lacking the requisite $ 1,000 to join the union, Morse instead entered the
539:, this award is the highest honor in the field of photojournalism. Morse was the recipient of the 2010 Briton Hadden
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for a day, as he could not understand taking pictures that meant nothing to anyone outside the fashion industry.
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every day in order to select events to photograph, creating pictures which Daniel then sold instantly.
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712:"John G. Morris: An Interview with the Most Influential and Experienced Photo Editor in History"
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one day a week through Pix, which amounted to about ten days a month of working for
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Morse also documented breakthroughs in the field of medicine. In response to the
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Steichen, Edward (2003) . The Family of Man. New York: The Museum of Modern Art.
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department storeâwhich turned out to be Morse's first photo story published by
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644:, Revolver Liberation Alliance, November 6, 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
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855:"Surgeon General's Report on the Health Consequences of Smoking â 1967"
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FOTOfusion 2008: Palm Beach Photographic Center/Instructor Biographies
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could afford only one photographer, it would have to be Ralph Morse."
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Technically similar, in covering the hundred yard dash in New York's
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195:. Not owning a camera, Morse borrowed a 35mm Contax from his friend
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Ralph Morse photographing simulator of the Lunar Module circa 1961
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space program from its inception, an assignment which outlasted
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817:"Nat Fein, 86, Pulitzer Winner for Picture of Ruth's Final Bow"
791:"The Magnificent Eleven: The D-Day Photographs of Robert Capa"
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Honors & Recognition: Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award
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attack in the Pacific. He arranged for the captain of the
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managing editor George P. Hunt proclaimed of Morse, "If
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Of the three owners of Pix, one was a silent partner,
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At 24, Morse was the youngest war correspondent when
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718:, September 12, 2009. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
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Achievement Award for his World War II photographs.
656:, LIFE.com, July 15, 2009. Retrieved July 15, 2009.
934:, November 2010, p.84. Retrieved December 5, 2010.
902:, November 7, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
825:, September 29, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2009.
780:Wild Bill Guarnere. Community, November 11, 2009.
120:and the astronauts who first landed on the moon.
883:, November 27, 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2009.
281:hired him full-time in 1942 and sent him to the
767:"Whatever Happened to âGeorge Lott, Casualty'?
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864:, June 5, 1998. Retrieved November 23, 2009.
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771:Magazine's Randomly Chosen Wounded Soldier"
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969:Photographs by Ralph Morse at Getty Images
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729:"Gallery M: Fine Art, Gallery, Sculpture"
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537:National Press Photographers Association
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964:Photographs by Ralph Morse at Life.Com
150:Ralph Morse had humble roots. Born in
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806:, 1999. Retrieved December 20, 2009.
654:"EXCLUSIVE: Up Close With Apollo 11"
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60:. His pictures documented the war's
836:"715: Hank Aaron's Glorious Ordeal"
804:"Jackie Robinson: An American Hero"
603:"The Camera of an Inventive Genius"
328:United States Secretary of the Navy
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930:Estes, Lenora Jane. "Postscript,"
757:". Retrieved on December 21, 2009.
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994:DeWitt Clinton High School alumni
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134:workshops," said McNitt. Former
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989:Life (magazine) photojournalists
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398:. Because he photographed with
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875:"The Feud: Correction Appended"
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283:Pacific Theatre of World War II
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691:The Great LIFE Photographers
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667:"The Accidental Surrealist"
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125:Jim McNitt
436:Babe Ruth
356:Nuremberg
303:Vincennes
297:Vincennes
295:USS
156:the Bronx
152:Manhattan
118:Apollo 11
915:Archived
858:Archived
774:Archived
670:Archived
638:Archived
428:Nat Fein
340:Normandy
250:Our Town
245:Broadway
182:Harper's
158:area of
66:European
793:, 1998.
414:in the
255:Gimbels
62:Pacific
947:
697:
531:Awards
388:Apollo
384:Gemini
344:Verdun
116:about
110:Apollo
104:, and
945:ISBN
769:Life
695:ISBN
687:Life
545:Time
541:Life
504:Life
491:Life
485:and
445:Life
380:Life
369:Life
323:Life
311:Life
279:Life
267:Life
263:Life
259:Life
237:Life
233:Life
201:Life
140:Life
136:Life
130:Time
114:Life
93:Life
85:Life
81:NASA
74:Life
64:and
50:Life
46:Life
39:Life
33:Life
838:,
430:'s
386:to
191:on
980::
896:,
877:,
819:,
714:,
610:^
593:^
578:^
566:.
527:.
375:.
100:,
753:"
701:.
543:-
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