Morris Schwartz (April 3, 1901 – October 22, 2004) was an American photographic inventor, photographer and businessman. Born in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, Schwartz went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1906 with his family, including his father Kalman and brother Hy. He started in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 1922, staying with the paper until 1926, when he moved to the '' Jewish Daily Forward'', where he was a staff photographer until 1931. In 1930, Schwartz invented a flash synchronizer for work with flashbulbs, then novel replacements for flash powder. Schwartz invented the "Kalart Flash Synchronizer" in 1930, founding the Kalart company to market this and other products. His father Kalman ran the Kalart Photography Studio in Manhattan; his brother Hy was also a freelance press photographer, and worked with him in making the Kalart products.

Awards

In 1952, Schwartz was awarded the Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award 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 ...

, for "unusual service or achievement beneficial to photojournalism or for an outstanding technology advance in equipment or processes of photojournalism". His citation named "synchronizers, flash equipment, electrical circuits, lens coupled range fliers icand unique camera designs."

References

External links

*Jo Lommen,
The Kalart history
, Kalart History, Manufacturing and Products. 1901 births 2004 deaths 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American businesspeople Pioneers of photography American people of Russian-Jewish descent Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American male journalists 20th-century American journalists American men centenarians Jewish centenarians {{US-photographer-stub