Hy Peskin
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Hyman "Hy" Peskin (November 5, 1915 in Brooklyn – June 2, 2005 in Herzliyya, Israel) was a Jewish-American photographer notable for several famous photographs of American sports people and celebrities published by Sports Illustrated and Life. In particular, he was a pioneer of sports photography, with his work being ranked amongst the best sports photojournalism of the 20th century. In 1966 he changed his name to Brian Blaine Reynolds, and founded the Academy of Achievement, bringing young people together with statesmen and Nobel Prize winners.
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[edit] Career
He was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, where his father Elias Peskowitz was a tailor who lost his job in the Depression, the family being saved by Hy's first job as a newspaper seller. He then became a newspaper journalist at the New York Daily Mirror after it started up in 1924, but soon became a photographer because it paid a higher salary.
Sports photographers would work from the press box, limiting the pictures they could take. Peskin was the first sports photographer to cover the action from the sideline or climb up on the roof to obtain more interesting shots. In his early days, he was known for the photographs he took of the Brooklyn Dodgers from Ebbets Field. Peskin often said "I helped make the Dodgers famous and they helped make me".[1]
After serving in the Marines during World War II, he wanted to start work as a magazine photographer using color. He applied for positions with 20 magazines but only Look showed any interest. It offered him a job after showing the photo editor pictures of a boxing match he had taken showing the blood on one of the boxer's face.
Peskin was the first staff photographer hired by Sports Illustrated.[citation needed] His picture of Ben Hogan playing a 1-shot iron to the green at the 72nd hole of the 1950 US Open was ranked by that magazine as one of the greatest sports photographs of the twentieth century.[citation needed]
In 1953, Peskin shot a Life cover and photographic feature of Senator John F. Kennedy and his fiancé Jacqueline Bouvier. These photos helped to promote Kennedy as a national figure and were Peskin's personal favourites.
Sports Illustrated rated another photo taken by Peskin in 1955 of boxer Carmen Basilio jumping into the arms of his cornerman on winning the welterweight world championship as another of its greatest sports photographs of the twentieth century.
During his career as a sports photographer, Peskin had 40 of his photographs appear on the front cover of Sports Illustrated. He finished his career on an unfortunate note when technical problems meant that he virtually took no photographs at the first title fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston.
[edit] Death
Peskin died in Herzliyya, Israel in 2005 of technical errors occurring during kidney dialysis. He is succeeded by his two sons, Preston Blaine Reynolds and Jeremy Elias Reynolds, from his second wife, Adriana Reynolds.
