Eddie Adams

New Kensington, Pennsylvania native Eddie Adams was possibly one of the greatest photographers of all time. He photographed images in 13 wars! He photographed famous and infamous, great and small, the strong and the weakest among us with dignity and stark realism. His photos have graced the covers of major magazines and won him the Pulitzer Prize. He had an amazing career and gave so much back to up and coming photographers through his famous workshops. It was a sad day, September 19th, 2004 when Eddie Adams passed on from ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, the world lost a great photographer and photography a great master.

Although I'm a Pittsburgh artist, I now live in New Kensington, so since Eddie's from New Kensington, I have a special affinity to him. I never met Eddie Adams, he was a bit before my time in New Kensington, he had long ago moved onto the world stage. His famous photo from the Vietnam War that got him the unwanted Pulitzer Prize that haunted him the rest of his life teaches us all a lesson about photography and war. Maybe that was God's plan for Eddie Adams and a lesson to be learned for anybody who picks up a camera, maybe some things should never be photographed. Although Eddie's Pulitzer Prize winning photograph brought him international fame as a war photographer, it also had implications that will always be attached to his name. One instant, one click of the shutter, one millisecond forever captured in time, one grim photo of war overshadowed every beautiful photo he ever took and became his legacy. Rest in Peace Eddie.

Adobe Illustrator 8.0, Apple G4 Power Mac, OS 9.2