Bob Gomel

Bob Gomel in China in 2014. Photo credit: Sandra Gomel.
“Kayaker in White Water (1966).” Copyright: Bob Gomel.
JFK lies in state in U.S. Capitol rotunda (1963). Copyright: Bob Gomel.

Bob Gomel (born August 14, 1933) is an American photojournalist who created images of 1960s world leaders, athletes, entertainers, and major events. His photographs have appeared on the covers of LIFE, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Fortune, and Forbes, and in TIME, the New York Times, and Der Stern, and in more than 40 books. Gomel’s images remain of interest to collectors, news organizations, authors and historians, and galleries and museums, including the U.S. Library of Congress and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.[1][2][3][4][5]

Early life, education and family

Born in New York, Gomel earned a journalism degree from New York University in 1955 and then served as a U.S. naval aviator stationed in Japan from 1955 to 1958.

The father of three sons, Gomel resides in Houston with his wife, Sandra.

LIFE years

Dwight D. Eisenhower lies in state at U.S. capitol (April 1969). Copyright: Bob Gomel.

As a LIFE magazine photographer from January 1959 through June 1969, Gomel’s coverage included John F. Kennedy, the Beatles, and Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali, and Arnold Palmer. Gomel’s major-event coverage included the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1963 funeral of President Kennedy,[6] the 1964 Democratic National Convention, the 1965 Northeast blackout, the 1968 funeral of Sen. Robert Kennedy, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the 1968 Republican National Convention, the 1969 funeral of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, United Nations debates, and the baseball World Series. In 1964, the University of Missouri School of Journalism honored Gomel with the best news photo of the year.[7] The photo reflected the passion in the keynote speech of Sen. John O. Pastore at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. LIFE ran a full-page ad in the New York Times recognizing the award and others won by LIFE staff photographers.

Gomel’s 1965 photograph of the blackout-darkened New York City skyline in moonlight is believed to be the first double-exposure image published as a news photograph. In 1966, editors selected Gomel’s “Kayaker in White Water” for inclusion in LIFE’s Best of Year issue. In 1967, Gomel’s LIFE photo essay on strip-mining in Appalachia helped lead to regulatory reform. Gomel’s 1969 LIFE cover shot of President Eisenhower lying in state was the first news photograph taken from the dome of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.[8] His camera was fired remotely by wire to a foot switch hundreds of feet below the dome. Gomel has said that his personal favorites among his own photographs include a child crying tears of joy as the nuclear submarine USS Triton and her sailor father return to their home base in Connecticut (1960).[9] Other favorites are Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay after his defeat of Sonny Liston in Miami (1964) [10] and a photo of Richard Nixon with his dogs Vickie and Checkers (1964).[11]

After LIFE

Bob Gomel's image of bulls used in Merrill Lynch advertising campaign.

From the 1970s through the 1990s, Gomel shifted his focus to commercial photography, and he moved to Houston in 1977. He shot national advertising campaigns throughout the world for Audi, Bulova, GTE, Merrill Lynch (“Bullish on America”), Pan Am Airways, Pennzoil, Shell Oil, the U.S. Army, and Volkswagen, and professional services companies, such as law firms and medical practices, among others.

Recent years

In 2016, Gomel's image of JFK's casket beneath the U.S. Capitol Rotunda was included among "30 Powerful Pictures That Defined American History" in a collection of LIFE magazine images curated by Getty Images. [12]

In 2016, Gomel agreed to donate his photography archives to the University of Texas Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. In recent years, Gomel’s international travel photography[13] has been the subject of gallery shows and educational programs by the World Affairs Council of Houston, the Houston Center for Photography, the Houston chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers, the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., Houston FotoFest, and the TIME-LIFE alumni organization.

In 2016, the Houston Chronicle included a Gomel photo of President Kennedy’s moon speech at Rice University as one of “Houston’s proudest moments.”[14]

In 2015, Gomel reflected on his long career in a Houston Chronicle report, “Renowned photographer Bob Gomel captured 1960s from a catbird seat.”[15] In 2015, USA Today referenced Gomel's Beatles in photography in "35 Years After John Lennon's Death, Revisit 35 Classic Photos,"[16] In 2015, the Houston Chronicle included Gomel's photo of Gemini astronauts Edward H. White and James A. McDivitt in "How Houston Lived 50 Years Ago."[17] In 2015, BBC News included a Gomel photo of Muhammad Ali in "Should Sport and Politics Ever Mix?"[18] In 2015, The Guardian (UK) included a Gomel photo of Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X in "Malcolm X was killed a half century ago, but his work lives on in us today."[19]

In 2014, TIME included a Gomel photograph in "Death From Above: Airliners Collide Above New York City, December 1960."[20]

In 2013, Gomel was featured in a report by KHOU-CBS 11 (Houston) commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy.[21] In 2015, TIME magazine featured Gomel’s images of the Beatles in a report on the 50th anniversary of the band’s arrival in the United States.[22] CBS News reported on Gomel’s unpublished photos of the Beatles’ U.S. “invasion.”[23] Gomel was featured in a report by KHOU-CBS 11 (Houston) commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ U.S. tour.[24]

NYC during 1965 blackout. Copyright: Bob Gomel.

In 2012, National Geographic included Gomel's photograph of the 1965 blackout in "World's Worst Power Outages."[25] In 2012, the Houston Chronicle featured Gomel in “50 years ago a promise made, a promise kept: going to the moon,”[26] marking the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s “moon shot” speech at Rice University in Houston. Houston Public Media / KUHF-88.7 FM featured Gomel’s unpublished photos of the Kennedy Speech in “Unpublished JFK Photos.”[27]

In 2011, the NYU alumni magazine featured Gomel in “A Thousand Words.”[28] In 2011, TIME included a Gomel photograph of John F. Kennedy touring a model of the Apollo space capsule in Houston in "High Point: President Kennedy Commits the U.S. to Landing on the Moon."[29]

Malcolm X photographs Muhammad Ali in Miami in 1964. Copyright: Bob Gomel.

In 2010, Gomel’s photograph, “Malcolm X Photographing Muhammad Ali,” was acquired by the Library of Congress.[30]

Subjects of Gomel photography

World leaders and politicians: David Ben-Gurion; Willy Brandt; Henry Cabot, Jr.; Charles de Gaulle; Everett Dirksen; Dwight Eisenhower; Barry Goldwater; Andrei Gromyko; Dag Hammarskjold; Averell Harriman; Hubert Humphrey; Lyndon Johnson; John F. Kennedy; Robert Kennedy; Ted Kennedy; Nikita Khrushchev; Eugene McCarthy; Jawaharlal Nehru; Richard Nixon; Ross Perot; Ronald Reagan; Nelson Rockefeller; Dean Rusk; William Scranton; and Adlai Stevenson.

Artists and entertainers: John Lennon; Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr; George Harrison; Marilyn Monroe; Elizabeth Taylor; Eddie Fisher; Warren Beatty; James Earl Jones; Ossie Davis; Helen Hayes; George C. Scott; George Segal; Julie Andrews; George Hamilton; Jackie Gleason; Toots Shor; Robert Graves; Peggy Lee; Bobby Darin; George Segal; Eddie Fisher; Art Buchwald; Bob Keeshan; Milos Forman; Olivia de Havilland; Jack Paar; Al Hirschfeld; and Ludmilla Savelyeva.

Olympians and professional athletes: boxers Cassius Clay, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Gene Tunney, and Jack Dempsey; baseball players Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Nolan Ryan, Frank Robinson, and Sandy Koufax; basketball players Lewis Alcindor, later known as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Calvin Murphy, and Bill Bradley; football players Joe Namath, Jim Brown, and Eugene “Mercury” Morris, and Johnny Unitas; golfers Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Juan “Chi Chi” Rodriguez; tennis player Arthur Ashe; and Olympic swimmers Donna De Varona, Kathy Ellis, and Don Schollander.

Others: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren; astronauts John Glenn, Alan Shepherd, Scott Carpenter, Virgil Grissom, and John Young; scientist Wernher Von Braun; labor leader Jimmy Hoffa; pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock; broadcast journalist Ed Murrow; NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle; author George Plimpton; General Douglas MacArthur; Malcolm X; and consumer activist Ralph Nader.

Book references

References

  1. ↑ "An Evening with Bob Gomel | American Society of Media Photographers". asmp.org. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  2. ↑ "Acclaimed photographer Bob Gomel looks back". www.sfreporter.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  3. ↑ "Bob Gomel: My historic image | InFocus". infocus.gettyimages.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  4. ↑ Monroe, Sid Michelle (2015-07-08). "Monroe Gallery of Photography: Bob Gomel shares never-before-seen pictures of The Beatles". Monroe Gallery of Photography. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  5. ↑ "Multiple Exposures: LIFE Photographer Bob Gomel Looks Back at the 1960s in Houston Exhibition". PRWeb. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  6. ↑ "Bob Gomel: My historic image". Stories and Trends. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  7. ↑ Inc, Time (1965-05-07). LIFE. Time Inc.
  8. ↑ "Bob Gomel: My historic image | InFocus". infocus.gettyimages.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  9. ↑ "Master Photographers | Black and White Photojournalists". www.monroegallery.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  10. ↑ "Cassius X: When Muhammad Met Malcolm | FIGHTLAND". Fightland. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  11. ↑ "Master Photographers | Black and White Photojournalists". www.monroegallery.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  12. ↑ https://www.buzzfeed.com/gabrielsanchez/pictures-that-defined-american-history?utm_term=.jglb8pgq2#.th8vJ6YP5
  13. ↑ "Renowned photographer Bob Gomel captured 1960s from a catbird seat". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  14. ↑ "Houston's proudest moments will give you the feels". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  15. ↑ "Renowned photographer Bob Gomel captured 1960s from a catbird seat". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  16. ↑ "35 years after John Lennon's death, revisit 35 classic photos". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  17. ↑ "Medicare and Medicaid turn 50 years old". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  18. ↑ "Should sport and politics ever mix?". BBC Guides. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  19. ↑ Giovanni, Nikki; Ali, Zaheer; Boyd, Herb; Shocklee, Hank; Thrasher, Steven W. (2015-02-21). "Malcolm X was killed half a century ago, but his work lives on in us today". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  20. ↑ Cosgrove, Ben. "Death From Above: Airliners Collide Above New York City, December 1960". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  21. ↑ "'Life' photographer calls JFK his most charismatic subject". KHOU. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  22. ↑ Ronk, Liz. "See Unpublished LIFE Photos of the Beatles on the Brink of Beatlemania". TIME.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  23. ↑ "Photographer unveils rare Beatles pictures". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  24. ↑ "Houston photographer shares never-before-seen pictures of The Beatles". KHOU. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  25. ↑ "Pictures: World's Worst Power Outages". news.nationalgeographic.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  26. ↑ "50 years ago a promise made, a promise kept: going to the moon". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  27. ↑ Feibel, Carrie. "Unpublished JFK Photos: Houston Remembers President Kennedy's 1962 'Moon Speech' At Rice Stadium | Houston Public Media". Houston Public Media. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  28. ↑ "A Thousand Words" (PDF).
  29. ↑ "Gagarin's Great Feat: 50 Space-Race Highs and Lows". Time. 2007-09-27. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  30. ↑ "Photos, Prints, Drawings: Black Muslim leader Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay surrounded by fans after he beat Sonny Liston for the heavy weight championship, Miami, February, 1964". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 22, 2016. Purchase; Monroe Gallery of Photography; 2010
  31. ↑ Roberts, Randy; Smith, Johnny (2016-02-02). Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. Basic Books. ISBN 9780465079704.
  32. ↑ LIFE, The Editors of (2014-10-14). LIFE LINCOLN: An Intimate Portrait. New York, N.Y.: Life. ISBN 9781618930729.
  33. ↑ LIFE - The 1960s - The Decade When Everything Changed - Foreward [sic] by Tom Brokaw.
  34. ↑ Norman Mailer: JFK, Superman Comes to the Supermarket. Taschen America. 2014-12-05. ISBN 9783836550338.
  35. ↑ Hill, Clint; McCubbin, Lisa (2013-11-19). Five Days in November (First ed.). Gallery Books. ISBN 9781476731490.
  36. ↑ LIFE, The Editors of (2013-10-15). LIFE The Day Kennedy Died: Fifty Years Later: LIFE Remembers the Man and the Moment (Pck Har/Pa ed.). Life. ISBN 9781618930743.
  37. ↑ Life, Editors of (2011-11-08). LIFE 75 Years: The Very Best of LIFE (Pck Har/Pa ed.). New York, New York: Life. ISBN 9781603202121.
  38. ↑ Mailer, Norman; McCann, Colum (2015-07-30). Norman Mailer: Moonfire, The Epic Journey of Apollo 11. Taschen. ISBN 9783836556224.
  39. ↑ Association, United State Golf (2009-01-01). Decisions on the Rules of Golf Usga 2010–2011. United State Golf Association. ISBN 9780941774109.
  40. ↑ Goodman, Cynthia (2009-11-16). The Art of Caring: A Look at Life Through Photography. New York, NY; New Orleans: Ruder-Finn Press. ISBN 9781932646504.
  41. ↑ Memories of John Lennon by Ono, Yoko (2005) Hardcover. The History Press.
  42. ↑ Marshall, Bruce; Gray, Christopher (2005-10-11). Building New York: The Rise and Rise of the Greatest City on Earth. New York, NY: Universe. ISBN 9780789313621.
  43. ↑ Cullen, Bob; Mickelson, Phil (2005-04-05). These Guys Are Good: They Live to Play--They Play to Win--The Spirit and Drama of the World's Greatest Golf (10th printing ed.). San Diego, Calif.: Tehabi Sports. ISBN 9781933208008.
  44. ↑ Hauser, Thomas; Palmer, Arnold (2012-10-24). Arnold Palmer: A Personal Journey. NBC Publishing. ISBN 9781938069499.
  45. ↑ Books, The Editors of Time-Life (2003-11-01). Mafia. London: Time Life Value. ISBN 9781844471034.
  46. ↑ Stolley, Richard B.; Chiu, Tony (2000-10-30). LIFE: Century of Change: America in Pictures 1900–2000 (1st ed.). Bulfinch. ISBN 9780821226971.
  47. ↑ Hirshberg, Charles (1996-04-01). The Beatles: From Yesterday to Today (1st ed.). Boston, Mass.: Bullfinch Press Time Life. ISBN 9780821223178.
  48. ↑ Buchwald, Art (1994-05-01). Leaving Home: A Memoir. Thorndike, Me.: Thorndike Pr. ISBN 9780786201587.
  49. ↑ Ed, Life (1975-01-01). Life Goes to the Movies. New York: Time Life+ Books Inc. ISBN 9780809416431.
  50. ↑ Books, Time Inc Life (1996-01-01). SIXTY YEARS Life: a 60th Anniversary Celebration 1936–1996 (Stated 1st ed.). Des Moines: Life Books, Time Inc. ISBN 9781883013608.
  51. ↑ Kasher, Steven (1996-09-01). The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History, 1954-68. Abbeville Press. ISBN 9780789206565.
  52. ↑ Mailer, Norman (2013-10-15). The Fight (Reprint ed.). Random House Trade Paperbacks. ISBN 9780812986129.

External links

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