Bob Gomel

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Gomel in China, 2014

Bob Gomel (born August 14, 1933) is an American photojournalist who created images of 1960s world leaders, athletes, entertainers, and major events. His photographs have appeared on the covers of Life, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Fortune, and Forbes, and in Time, The New York Times, and Stern, and in more than 40 books. Gomel's images remain of interest to collectors, news organizations, authors and historians, and galleries and museums, including the U.S. Library of Congress and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.[1][2][3]

Early life, education and family

Born in New York, Gomel earned a journalism degree from New York University in 1955 and then served as a U.S. naval aviator stationed in Japan from 1955 to 1958.

The father of three sons, Gomel resides in Houston with his wife, Sandra.

Life years

As a Life magazine photographer from January 1959 through June 1969, Gomel's coverage included John F. Kennedy,[4] the Beatles,[5][6][7][8] and Cassius Clay, later known as Muhammad Ali,[9][10] and Arnold Palmer. Gomel's major-event coverage included the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1963 funeral of President Kennedy,[11][12] the 1964 Democratic National Convention, the 1965 Northeast blackout, the 1968 funeral of Sen. Robert Kennedy, the 1968 Democratic National Convention, the 1968 Republican National Convention, the 1969 funeral of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, United Nations debates, and the baseball World Series. In 1964, the University of Missouri School of Journalism honored Gomel with the best news photo of the year.[13] The photo reflected the passion in the keynote speech of Sen. John O. Pastore at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Life ran a full-page ad in the New York Times recognizing the award and others won by Life staff photographers.

Gomel's 1965 photograph of the blackout-darkened New York City skyline in moonlight is believed to be the first double-exposure image published as a news photograph. In 1966, editors selected Gomel's "Kayaker in White Water" for inclusion in Life's Best of Year issue. In 1967, Gomel's Life photo essay on strip-mining in Appalachia helped lead to regulatory reform. Gomel's 1969 Life cover shot of President Eisenhower lying in state was the first news photograph taken from the dome of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.[12] His camera was fired remotely by wire to a foot switch hundreds of feet below the dome. Gomel has said that his personal favorites among his own photographs include a child crying tears of joy as the nuclear submarine USS Triton and her sailor father return to their home base in Connecticut (1960).[14] Other favorites are Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay after his defeat of Sonny Liston in Miami (1964) [15] and a photo of Richard Nixon with his dogs Vickie and Checkers (1964).[16]

After Life

From the 1970s through the 1990s, Gomel shifted his focus to commercial photography, and he moved to Houston in 1977. He shot national advertising campaigns throughout the world for Audi, Bulova, GTE, Merrill Lynch ("Bullish on America"), Pan Am Airways, Pennzoil, Shell Oil, the U.S. Army, and Volkswagen, and professional services companies, such as law firms and medical practices, among others.

In 2010, Gomel's photograph, "Malcolm X Photographing Muhammad Ali", was acquired by the Library of Congress.[17]

In 2015, the Houston Chronicle included Gomel's photo of Gemini astronauts Ed White and James McDivitt in "How Houston Lived 50 Years Ago".[18] In 2015, BBC News included a Gomel photo of Muhammad Ali in "Should Sport and Politics Ever Mix?"

In 2016, Gomel agreed to donate his photography archives to the University of Texas Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. In recent years, Gomel's international travel photography[19] has been the subject of gallery shows and educational programs by the World Affairs Council of Houston, the Houston Center for Photography, the Houston chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers, the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M., Houston FotoFest, and the Time-Life alumni organization.

In 2020, Gomel was featured in "Bob Gomel: Eyewitness," a documentary directed by David Scarbrough.

In 2022, on the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's "moon-shot" speech at Rice University, Gomel's photography from the speech and other moments in early-1960s space program history was displayed in NASA Johnson Space Center and Rice University commemorative events.[20]

In 2024, the City of Houston proclaimed April 23 as "Bob Gomel Day," recognizing Gomel for dedicating "eight decades to the advancement of American photojournalism and imagery of world cultures."[21]

Publications

  • The Fight.Norman Mailer. 1975 and 2013, Random House. ISBN 9780812986129.
  • The Civil Rights Movement: A Photographic History.Steven Kasher. 1996, Abbeville. ISBN 9780789206565.
  • Life Sixty Years: A 60th Anniversary Celebration. 1996, Time-Life. ISBN 9781883013608.
  • Life Goes to the Movies.David Edward Scherman. 1975, Time-Life. ISBN 9780809416431.
  • Art Buchwald: Leaving Home, a Memoir. 1994, Putnam Adult. ISBN 9780786201587.
  • The Beatles: From Yesterday to Today.Charles Hirshberg. 1996, Bullfinch Press Time Life. ISBN 9780821223178.
  • Life: Century of Change: America in Pictures.Richard B. Stolley. 2000, Time-Life. ISBN 9780821226971.
  • Mafia.The Editors of Time-Life Books. 2003, Time-Life. ISBN 9781844471034.
  • Arnold Palmer: A Personal Journey.Thomas Houser. 2004, Harper Collins. ISBN 9781938069499.
  • These Guys are Good: They Live to Play, They Play to Win: the Spirit and Drama of the PGA TOUR. 2005, Tehabi Sports. ISBN 9781933208008.
  • Building New York: The Rise and Rise of the Greatest City on Earth.Bruce Marshall. 2005, Universe. ISBN 9780789313621.
  • Memories of John Lennon.Edited by Yoko Ono. 2005, Harper Collins)
  • The Art of Caring: A Look at Life Through Photography.Cynthia Goodman. 2009, Ruder-Finn. ISBN 9781932646504.
  • 2010–2011 Rules of Golf.United States Golf Association. 2009. ISBN 9780941774109.
  • Moonfire, The Epic Journey of Apollo 11.Norman Mailer. 2010, Taschen. ISBN 9783836556224.
  • Life 75 Years: The Very Best of Life. 2011, Time-Life. ISBN 9781603202121.
  • Life Books: The Day Kennedy Died. 2013, Time-Life. ISBN 9781618930743.
  • Five Days in November.Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin. 2013, Gallery, a Division of Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781476731490.
  • JFK: Superman Comes to the Supermarket.Norman Mailer and Nina Weiner. 2014, Taschen America. ISBN 9783836550338.
  • The 1960s: The Decade When Everything Changed. 2014, Time-Life)
  • Life Books: Lincoln: An Intimate Portrait.The Editors of Life. 2014, Time-Life. ISBN 9781618930729.
  • Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X. 2016, Basic. ISBN 9780465079704.

References

  1. ^ "Acclaimed photographer Bob Gomel looks back". www.sfreporter.com. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  2. ^ Monroe, Sid Michelle (2015-07-08). "Monroe Gallery of Photography: Bob Gomel shares never-before-seen pictures of The Beatles". Monroe Gallery of Photography. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  3. ^ "Multiple Exposures: Life Photographer Bob Gomel Looks Back at the 1960s in Houston Exhibition". PRWeb. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  4. ^ Feibel, Carrie (11 September 2012). "Unpublished JFK Photos: Houston Remembers President Kennedy's 1962 'Moon Speech' At Rice Stadium | Houston Public Media". Houston Public Media. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  5. ^ Ronk, Liz. "See Unpublished Life Photos of the Beatles on the Brink of Beatlemania". Time. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  6. ^ "Photographer unveils rare Beatles pictures". CBS News. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  7. ^ "Houston photographer shares never-before-seen pictures of The Beatles". KHOU. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  8. ^ "35 years after John Lennon's death, revisit 35 classic photos". USA Today. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  9. ^ "Should sport and politics ever mix?". BBC Guides. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  10. ^ Giovanni, Nikki; Ali, Zaheer; Boyd, Herb; Shocklee, Hank; Thrasher, Steven W. (2015-02-21). "Malcolm X was killed half a century ago, but his work lives on in us today". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  11. ^ "30 Powerful Pictures That Defined American History". BuzzFeed News.
  12. ^ a b "Bob Gomel: My historic image | InFocus". infocus.gettyimages.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-25. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  13. ^ Life. Time Inc. 1965-05-07.
  14. ^ "Master Photographers | Black and White Photojournalists". www.monroegallery.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  15. ^ "Cassius X: When Muhammad Met Malcolm | FIGHTLAND". Fightland. Retrieved 2016-03-17.
  16. ^ "Master Photographers | Black and White Photojournalists". www.monroegallery.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  17. ^ "Photos, Prints, Drawings: Black Muslim leader Malcolm X photographing Cassius Clay surrounded by fans after he beat Sonny Liston for the heavy weight championship, Miami, February, 1964". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 22, 2016. Purchase; Monroe Gallery of Photography; 2010
  18. ^ "Medicare and Medicaid turn 50 years old". Houston Chronicle. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  19. ^ "Renowned photographer Bob Gomel captured 1960s from a catbird seat". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  20. ^ https://naturalsciences.rice.edu/moon-and-mars
  21. ^ https://houstontx.new.swagit.com/videos/303488

External links

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