Re: Howard Chapnick's death

[Fred Ward <fward@erols.com>]

To All:

Yesterday morning (Memorial Day) I received word that Howard Chapnick 
died at home of a heart attack. As noted here and in other places on the 
WEB, his death is photography's loss. 

Since Eric had some of the facts wrong, and since my lifelong 
involvement with Howard and with Black Star was an important one that I 
treasure, I believe it necessary to make a few comments.

Black Star was the world's first picture agency. Formed in Germany in 
the 1920s, it both grew with and was responsible for some of the growth 
of photography and magazine photojournalism. Black Star was the major 
force in Europe during the formative years of what we now view as the 
birth of contemporary photography. 

The three Jewish founders fled Nazi Germany during the 1930s, bringing 
Black Star to New York where a new publication, LIFE, was changing the 
face of photography in the USA. Amazingly, the refugees also arrived 
with an incredible contract with Hitler's regime. Black Star had an 
exclusive arrangement to distribute Germany's official photographs, 
including their exhaustive war coverage. (All this was dutifully 
investigated by the FBI after WWII and was found to be a business 
arrangement only, and there was never a question about Black Star's 
founders being anything but opposed to all things Nazi.)

Just after the War Black Star hired a new office boy, one Howard 
Chapnick. In addition to his other duties, Howard was sent out on 
assignments as an assistant to Black Star's illustrous group of by then 
world-famous photographers. Howard loved to tell tales of handling the 
bags, cameras, and lights for Eugene Smith, Ralph Crane, and a host of 
others who became the core and backbone of America's photo elite. 

Howard fell in love with photography while working at the side of the 
true greats who were making their mark at the time. He always looked 
back on those beginning days as the best.

During the 1950s one of the refugee founders died, and Howard bought 
into Black Star. Another retired, then the third. Ownership shifted to 
Howard's owning most of the company, his cousin Ben owning a share, and 
Phil Rosen also became a shareholder. I became involved in 1960, when 
two of the founders were still alive and one was running Black Star. 
Howard was second in command and was bringing in new photographers as 
the business expanded in those heady days before television made its 
impact on news. Howard and I met in New York, I showed him my work, and 
we agreed to a contract and association on the spot. I was living in 
Florida at the time and agreed to move to Washington, DC and become 
Black Star's photographer in the capital. As always, we photographers 
were freelancers, contracting with Black Star to represent us, to get 
assignments, to hold our files, to resell stock, and to be our agents to 
the world.

In those days a contract with Black Star was a handshake with Howard. In 
fact, I went around the world routinely for more than 30 years with 
nothing but a phone call from Black Star and an oral agreement. 

Howard operated Black Star with Ben and Phil for a number of years. When 
Phil died, ownership was down to two. Then Howard was diagnosed with Lou 
Gehrig's Disease just a few years ago and decided to retire, selling all 
of Black Star to Ben Chapnick, his cousin. Howard moved with his wife 
Jeanette from NYC to Somers, NY, where he was this past weekend. As his 
health deteriorated, his will and drive increased. He finished his book 
on photogournalism, which the University of Missouri published, and 
which received glowing reviews for its insights. He wrote a newspaper 
column, and he toiled tirelessly for the International Center of 
Photography in NY. He planned photography exhibits, helped young 
photographers find their way, and never tired of defending what he 
believed in while trying to make a dent in righting the world's wrongs. 
One of the last pieces he wrote he sent to me last month, an essay on 
the need to outlaw land mines. 

His interests and concerns were broad, his passion profound, his heart 
huge. He loved people and always looked toward the better side of 
humanity. He wanted people to be good, and was pained by all the misery 
he saw in the pictures that crossed his desk. And most of all he loved 
photography and photographers. He saw us as the historians of our time. 
He knew the power of photography and believed strongly in its ability to 
make changes in our world. He urged us always to look for the best, to 
do our best, to honor the people we came in contact with who were trying 
to make a difference in others' lives. Howard believed that photography 
was a force that could be used for good. Besides its obvious ability to 
tell stories and inform, Howard thought it could and should also be used 
to make the world better.

It was and is a noble goal. Howard Chapnick was unique. Like Bobby 
Kennedy, he was not content to seeing the world as it is and asking, 
"Why?" He dreamed of a different and better world, and asked, "Why not?"

We all have been fortunate having Howard among us for these important 
years of our lives and of the country's life. Now he is gone, and that 
is difficult to accept today. He will be missed not just as a friend and 
as a family member. His loss is to all humanity, his first love.


Fred Ward