| Bernie Boston | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 18, 1933 Washington DC, United States |
| Died | January 22, 2008 (aged 74) Basye, Virginia |
| Occupation | Photojournalist |
| Notable credit(s) | Pulitzer Prize-winner |
Bernie Boston (May 18, 1933 – January 22, 2008) was an American photographer most noted for his iconic Pulitzer Prize-nominated photograph, Flower Power.[1]
Contents |
Born in Washington, D.C., Boston graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology and served in the Army before starting his news photography career in Dayton, Ohio. He moved back to Washington to work at the Star and was director of photography when the newspaper folded in 1981. He then was hired by The Los Angeles Times to establish a photo operation in the nation's capital. During his career he covered every president from Harry S. Truman to Bill Clinton.
On October 22, 1967 he photographed his most famous picture, "Flower Power", which featured a Vietnam War protester inserting flowers into National Guardsmen's rifle barrels.[2] He was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize with this photo. He was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a 1987 photograph of Coretta Scott King unveiling a bust of her late husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the U.S. Capitol.[1]
An archive of many of Boston's negatives as well as some prints and contact sheets is held at the Rochester Institute of Technology today. Established as a tribute to his memory and a lasting inspiration for young photographers, it includes most of his work including the original negative for "Flower Power". [3]
In 1993, National Press Photographers Association awarded Boston the Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, their highest honor.[4] He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of Sigma Delta Chi, the Society of Professional Journalists.
In 2006, a collection of Boston's photos were published in the book Bernie Boston: American Photojournalist by Therese Mulligan.
Bernie Boston died at his home in Basye, Virginia on January 22, 2008 of amyloidosis, a blood disorder.[1]
Alice Ashe, "Bernie Boston: View Finder", Curio Magazine, James Madison University, 2005, pp. 11–14