Joe O'Donnell, one of the most important photographers of the 20th century has passed away at the age of 85. Nicknamed "the presidential photographer", O'Donnell was the one who captured many now famous and iconic images of the last century and it's turbulent history. He was among the first to visit Hiroshima after the nuclear disaster, where he photographed the disaster in September 1945, he was a White House photographer for five presidents and during the war he captured the Pacific Campaign, while he served as a marine. After he war he worked as a freelancer, until being recruited by the US Information Agency. His task : to photograph the American presidents. And he did so with Harry Truman, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon.
One of the most touching images bearing his signature is the one of John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his father's casket. But the best known composition ever captured on film by Joe O'Donnell is surely the one depicting Franklin Roosevelt, Josef Stalin and Winston Churchill, a symbolic image of the 20th century.
Photo : Artdaily.com
2007-08-15
