J.R. Wharton Eyerman (9 November 1906—7 December 1985) was an American photographer and photojournalist.

Early life

Eyerman was born in his parents' Butte, Montana photography studio. In a biographical vignette that ''Life'' often published on their photographers and writers on the title page, he explained, in verse, that the mysterious letters preceding his surname were not initials for any actual names; He left Butte to study civil engineering at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

in Seattle.

Life magazine

Eyerman was on staff for '' Life Magazine'' from 1942 to 1961. He covered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

for ''Life'' on the European and Pacific fronts. He once said; Among his most famous photographs is the oft-reproduced long-shot of movie audience members all wearing

3-D glasses Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

while watching the premiere of ''

Bwana Devil ''Bwana Devil'' is a 1952 American adventure B movie written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, and starring Robert Stack, Barbara Britton, and Nigel Bruce. ''Bwana Devil'' is based on the true story of the Tsavo maneaters and filmed wit ...

'' in Hollywood in November 1952. Such visual repetition was a favourite device; another example is Eyerman's expansive aerial shot for ''Life'' of multiple moving vans simultaneously emptying furniture into newly built houses on a Lakeview suburban street that stretches to the horizon, while his picture of a receding crowd of engineers at their drafting tables in a vast office space was selected by curator

Edward Steichen Edward Jean Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) was a Luxembourgish American photographer, painter, and curator, renowned as one of the most prolific and influential figures in the history of photography. Steichen was credited with tr ...

for the world-touring

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 ...

exhibition ''

The Family of Man ''The Family of Man'' was an ambitious exhibition of 503 photography, photographs from 68 countries curated by Edward Steichen, the director of the New York City Museum of Modern Art's (MoMA) Department of Photography. According to Steichen, ...

'' that was seen by 9 million visitors. Previously, at MoMA, Eyerman had contributed to ''Memorable Life Photographs'', November 20 – December 12, 1951; and ''Korea - The Impact of War in Photographs,'' February 13 – April 22, 1951, in which 5 of his

G.I. G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Force and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of "Government Issue", "General Issue", or " ...

portraits were shown; and later his work appeared in ''Photographs from the Museum Collection'', November 26, 1958 – January 18, 1959, also at the Museum of Modern Art.Museum of Modern Art, Exhibitions record for J. R. Eyerman
/ref> He left ''Life'' in 1961 to work for ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'', '' National Geographic'', and several medical magazines.Los Angeles Times obituary; 'Photographer J. R. Eyerman Dies' December 07, 1985
/ref>

Technical innovations

After opening his own

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

firm in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, he developed new tools to photograph in difficult situations. In his 1957 book, author Stanley Rayfield noted that;

Death

Eyerman died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

and heart failure at his home in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

External links

Link to all Life Magazine-hosted pictures of J.R. EyermanPhoto of audience in 3-D Glasses

References

1906 births 1985 deaths Deaths from kidney failure People from Butte, Montana University of Washington College of Engineering alumni American photojournalists Life (magazine) photojournalists Structural engineers Journalists from Montana 20th-century American journalists American male journalists {{US-photographer-stub