Herman LeRoy Emmet III (January 21, 1943 – November 4, 2021) was an American
photojournalist
Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...
and
visual artist
The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts al ...
. His best known work wa
"Fruit Tramps: A Family of Migrant Farmworkers"Two of his photographs
from this body of work are part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
in New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. In 1988, Emmet won the Top Photo Essayist award in the "Pictures of the Year" contest, cosponsored by the National Press Photographers Association
The National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) is an American professional association made up of still photographers, television videographers, editors, and students in the journalism field. Founded in 1946, the organization is based in at ...
and the University of Missouri School of Journalism
The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...
, for his seven-year project documenting the life of a migrant farm working family, the Tindals.
Life and work
Herman LeRoy Emmet was born in Wareham, Massachusetts
Wareham ( ) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 23,303.
History
Wareham was first settled in 1678 by Europeans as part of the towns of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Plymouth ...
on January 21, 1943. He attended Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in Languages and Linguistics and later attended MICA
Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...
, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
in Photography.
Influenced by the work of photographers such as Manuel Álvarez Bravo
Manuel Álvarez Bravo (February 4, 1902 – October 19, 2002) was a Mexican artistic photographer and one of the most important figures in 20th century Latin American photography. He was born and raised in Mexico City. While he took art classes a ...
, Walker Evans
Walker Evans (November 3, 1903 – April 10, 1975) was an American photographer and photojournalist best known for his work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) documenting the effects of the Great Depression. Much of Evans' work from ...
and Dorothea Lange
Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange' ...
, Emmet first encountered the subjects of "Fruit Tramps", the Tindal family, in 1979. "I began photographing the migrant stream as a project for the Brooklyn Museum in 1977...but I found I wanted to know more about it. Every once in a while, I'd run across a white family that reminded me of photographic history from 50 years ago".
the Tindals
Life Magazine
''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...
featured Emmet's "Fruit Tramps" series in a 6-page spread.Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...
. In the years following, he has been dedicated t
painting
and has exhibited in several shows.
In 2019, selected photographs from "Fruit Tramps" were exhibited at th
Key West Photography Festival
and he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Emmet was able to attend the event with his wife and, despite occasional difficulty with speaking due to Parkinson's, gave
45-minute talk
about the seven-year project which culminated in the book, "Fruit Tramps".
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emmet, Herman LeRoy
1943 births
2021 deaths
American photojournalists
People from Wareham, Massachusetts
Georgetown University College of Arts & Sciences alumni