Which post-war photographer do you like best?

[GKreindler]

Lets not forget about Mark Kauffman!! The man was certainly a force to be reckoned with, as he he was the first sports photo editor for Sports Illustrated, and if I'm not mistaken, the youngest photographer to have a piece on the cover of LIFE magazine (17?). I don't know if Type 1s exist of his work or anything, but damn, he did some great stuff!!

I'll try to post some in the next couple of hours...

[thekingofclout]

Originally Posted by GKreindler

Lets not forget about Mark Kauffman!! The man was certainly a force to be reckoned with, as he he was the first sports photo editor for Sports Illustrated, and if I'm not mistaken, the youngest photographer to have a piece on the cover of LIFE magazine (17?). I don't know if Type 1s exist of his work or anything, but damn, he did some great stuff!!

I actually considered Sweet, Stein, Salas, Iooss, and Leifer but trimmed it down to the five I listed, and I still stand by them.

Some of the reasons I omitted Sweet, Stein, and Salas is they were basically paparazzi (before it became a dirty word ) then ventured out into the Baseball world.

Of course Castro personally chose Salas to be his top photographer for the new government. Sweet at 91 years old is still with us and I've yet to see one of his TYPE I photos come up for sale. Negatives yes, photographs no. And Stien TYPE I photos are just plain scarce as well. Plenty of TYPE II's came up for sale on ebay the last few years but TYPE I's are few and far between.

Iooss and Leifer TYPE I's pretty much don't exist in the secondary market although I was lucky enough to win a pair of Iooss TYPE I's some years back in a charity auction for SI photographer VJ Lovero's family shortly after he passed away at 44.

So there you have it... the five I chose were great Baseball photographers and their original TYPE I photographs are available in auctions from time to time. My top two criteria.

Here is my Walter Iooss 11x14 TYPE I signed photo of Sandy Koufax during his no-hitter in Philly.

koufaxIOOSS.jpg

[GKreindler]

Good call on the criteria, Jimmy.

I think I had a bias towards Kauffman because of his many behind-the-plate shots of players, those of Mantle being incredibly exquisite. I just forget that those SI guys were in a totally different kind of league in the collectible world than Emmons, Wingfield and the like - especially since I'm using these photos for my own artistic needs.

As amazing as Leifer, Iooss and his contemporaries are, it's a shame that to the general public, they're the rock stars of sports photography. I guess it makes sense, being that they were given the forum that most people were exposed to. Though, the lesser-knowns that collectors love so much were just as important to the game (both pre and post-war), and certainly, their craft equals that of the big guns. Heck, if it wasn't for the artwork on all of those Bowman and Topps cards of the 1950s, I know I wouldn't even be interested in doing baseball paintings. But that's neither here nor there.

I like to think that now that all of those incredible photographers have passed on, it's up to people like us to continue their legacy. Luckily, this hobby has some great people in it who want nothing more than to do so.

And by the way Jimmy, that Iooss never ceases to amaze me (as I'm sure you know ).

[thekingofclout]

And by the way Jimmy, that Iooss never ceases to amaze me (as I'm sure you know ).
__________________

And by the way Graig... this piece never ceases to amaze me as well

koufax-1964.jpg

[GKreindler]