Steve Schapiro Explained

Steve Schapiro
Birth Date:16 November 1934
Birth Place:Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Death Place:Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation:Photographer
Years Active:1961–2022

Steve Schapiro (November 16, 1934 – January 15, 2022) was an American photographer. He is known for his photojournalism work and for having captured key moments of the civil rights movement such as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the Selma to Montgomery marches.[1] [2] He is also known for his portraits of celebrities and movie stills, most importantly from The Godfather (1972)[3] and Taxi Driver (1976).[4]

Life and career

Schapiro was born on November 16, 1934, in Brooklyn to David Schapiro, a stationery store owner in Rockefeller Center and Esther (Sperling) Schapiro who worked at her husband's stationery store.[5] He discovered photography at the age of nine. Soon he decided to devote himself to photojournalism. One of his role models at the time was the French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Schapiro took lessons with W. Eugene Smith, an influential photographer during the Second World War. Smith taught him the technical skills and showed him how to develop his own views of the world and of photography.

In 1961 Schapiro began working as a freelance photographer. His photos were published in Life, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, Time and Paris Match.

The political, cultural and social changes of the 1960s in the United States were an inspiration for Schapiro. He accompanied Robert F. Kennedy during his presidential campaign and captured key moments of the civil rights movement such as the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom or the Selma to Montgomery marches.

In the 1970s, Schapiro focused more on film set photography. Having taken photos of Midnight Cowboy (1969), among them also a famous one of Dustin Hoffman, he was hired as a photographer by Paramount Pictures. He photographed on the set of The Godfather (1972) by Francis Ford Coppola with a cast including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall. One of his photographs is of "Marlon Brando and the Cat". Schapiro was also present at the film set of Chinatown (1974) by Roman Polanski. Two years later, Schapiro was – by request of Robert De Niro – hired as a photographer on the set of Martin Scorsese's movie Taxi Driver (1976).

He died from pancreatic cancer at his home in Chicago, on January 15, 2022, at the age of 87.

Publications

Notes and References

  1. News: 2022-01-17. Steve Schapiro: Heroic Times – in pictures. The Guardian. 19 December 2017. 0261-3077.
  2. Web site: Biography. A.galerie. March 4, 2014.
  3. Web site: 2022-01-17. Observations: The poster boy for Hollywood's star gangsters. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/observations-the-poster-boy-for-hollywood-s-star-gangsters-1607710.html . May 25, 2022 . subscription . live. 13 February 2009. The Independent.
  4. Steve Scharpino, Then and Now. https://web.archive.org/web/20121127223451/http://lightbox.time.com/2012/11/20/steve-schapiro-then-and-now-rare-images-from-a-photography-legend/#1l. dead. November 27, 2012. Time. March 4, 2014.
  5. News: Seelye. Katharine Q.. 2022-01-24. Steve Schapiro, Photojournalist Who Bore Witness, Dies at 87. en-US. The New York Times. 2022-01-25. 0362-4331.
  6. Web site: 2022-01-17. More than a handful: Big Books. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/more-than-a-handful-big-books-1056399.html . May 25, 2022 . subscription . live. 8 December 2008. The Independent.
  7. Web site: 2022-01-17. Photographer Steve Schapiro on the Magic of Shooting David Bowie. www.vice.com.
  8. Web site: 2022-01-17. The big picture: a civil-rights 'stall-in', Harlem, 1964. 24 March 2019. The Guardian.
  9. Web site: 2022-01-17. Fifty years on, The Fire Next Time is still a beacon in dark times. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/photography/the-fire-next-time-taschen-james-baldwin-steve-schapiro-united-states-america-racism-race-issues-a7667691.html . May 25, 2022 . subscription . live. 7 April 2017. The Independent.
  10. Elisabeth. Garber-Paul. Elisabeth. Garber-Paul. 2022-01-17. New Book 'Ali' Showcases Boxer at the Cusp of Greatness. 26 July 2018. Rolling Stone.
  11. Web site: 2022-01-17. Photos Capturing a Young Muhammad Ali at Home in Louisville. AnotherMan.

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