Guy Rochester Crowder (1940–2011) was an African-American photographer whose work appeared in many publications including the Los Angeles Sentinel. He was the first staff photographer for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the first African-American to work for that agency.

Early life

Born in 1940 in

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat, seat of government of Jefferson County, Texas, Jefferson County, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur, Texas, Port Arthur Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, metropo ...

, Crowder moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1945. He graduated from high school in

Compton, California Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and, on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city in Los Angeles County to incorporat ...

. and joined the Marine Corps Reserve where he served from 1957 to 1963. Crowder also studied at Los Angeles Harbor College and

Los Angeles Trade Technical College LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

Career

Crowder started his career as a freelance photographer taking pictures of community events, since he was unable to find a job with one of the mainstream newspapers in Los Angeles due to his race. He built up a successful business, and developed a reputation and connections with prominent community members and politicians including Mervin Dymally,

Jesse Unruh Jesse Marvin Unruh (, ; September 30, 1922 – August 4, 1987), also known as Big Daddy Unruh, was an American politician who served as speaker of the California State Assembly and as the California State Treasurer. Early life and education Born ...

, and

Kenneth Hahn Kenneth Hahn (August 19, 1920 – October 12, 1997) was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for forty years, from 1952 to 1992. Hahn was on the Los Angeles City Council from 1947 to 1952. He was an ardent supporter of civil r ...

. In 1974 he took a position with the

Los Angeles Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their first ...

as staff photographer, thus making him the first African-American to work for this government agency. Among the subjects of his photography over the years were

Sammy Davis, Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles,

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

, Thurgood Marshall, Coretta Scott King, and Wynton Marsalis. ''Jet Magazine'' editor Aldore Collier said about Crowder, “His works vividly demonstrate the diversity, hope, sorrow and joy that is the Black community of Los Angeles.” At Crowder's funeral, '' Los Angeles Sentinel'' publisher

Danny Bakewell Danny Joseph Bakewell (born 1946) is an American civil rights activist and entrepreneur. He is the owner of The Bakewell Company, which includes among its holdings the ''Los Angeles Sentinel'' newspaper. He has been Chairman of the National Newspa ...

stated that "Guy Crowder will be remembered as being one of the most talented and phenomenal Black photojournalists of our time. Not only will he be missed for his work, but for being an extraordinary person and the legacy he leaves with this city.”

Personal life

Crowder was married to his wife Patricia for 51 years, and had one child, Reginald Crowder.

Exhibitions

* ''Camera and Community: A Celebration by Guy R. Crowder''(1993).

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

. * ''Black Life: Images of Resistance and Resilience in Southern California'' (2019). The San Diego Museum of Art. August 24, 2019 – December 1, 2019.

Death and legacy

Crowder died of pneumonia and complications from a stroke on October 30, 2011, in Riverside, California. His photographic archive, which includes over 400,000 images, is preserved by the Tom and Ethel Bradley Center in the

University Library An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...

, Special Collections and Archives at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowder, Guy African-American photographers 1940 births 2011 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people