Yoichi R. Okamoto (July 5, 1915April 24, 1985) was the second official U.S. presidential photographer, serving

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

Early life

Okamoto was a native of Yonkers, New York. His father, Chobun Yonezo Okamoto, was a wealthy exporter, book publisher and real estate businessman who came from Japan to the United States in 1904. His mother's name was Shina. Okamoto spent three years in Japan as a child. He attended Roosevelt High School and

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

and served in the

U.S. Army Signal Corps ) , colors = Orange and white , colors_label = Corps colors , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = ...

. During part of the time during

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 opposin ...

he was the official photographer of General Mark Clark. After the war, he joined the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA), which operated from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to "public diplomacy". In 1999, prior to the reorganization of intelligence agencies by President George W. Bush, President Bill C ...

Career

In 1955 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 ...

chose Okamoto's United States Information Service photograph of

Harald Kreutzberg Harald Kreutzberg (December 11, 1902 – April 25, 1968) was a German dancer and choreographer associated with the Ausdruckstanz movement, a form in which the individual, artistic expression of feelings or emotions is essential. Though largely fo ...

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. His tightly cropped, three-quarter-face portrait, previously published in ''

Popular Photography ''Popular Photography'', formerly known as ''Popular Photography & Imaging'', also called ''Pop Photo'', is a monthly American consumer website and former magazine that at one time had the largest circulation of any imaging magazine, with an edit ...

'' shows Kreutzberg at the 1950

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

in rehearsals for the performance of the play '' Jedermann'' by

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-class ...

in which Kreutzberg played the devil. In 1961, Okamoto was invited to accompany then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson on a trip of Berlin as his official photographer. Admiring the photography from the trip, the Vice President requested that Okamoto be used for future events. When Johnson became President, he asked Okamoto to become the official photographer for the White House, which Okamoto accepted on condition that he would have unlimited access to the President. He was fondly known as "Oke", and was given unprecedented access to the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the President of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is located in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval-shaped room ...

. He captured images of the President of the United States, more candid than had been previously acceptable. Because of his ability to be present at almost any event, more photos of the Johnson presidency are available than from any earlier term of office. He took an estimated 675,000 photographs during the Johnson presidency. The 1990 coffee table book ''LBJ: The White House Years''Washington Post, ''Personalities'' by Chuck Conconi, March 30, 1990,"
/ref> by Harry Middleton consists primarily of images taken by Okamoto. After finishing as the White House official photographer, Okamoto opened a private photofinishing business called Image Inc. in Washington D.C. He worked alongside his wife, Paula Okamoto.

Personal life

He was married to wife, Paula, and had a step-daughter, Karin, and a son, Philip. Okamoto committed suicide on April 24, 1985, at the age of 69.

References

External links

Life Magazine photo of Yoichi OkamotoPhotos of Johnson and dog Yuki by Yoichi OkamotoNYTimes retrospective on Okamoto, including 16 photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okamoto, Yoichi 20th-century American photographers 1915 births 1985 suicides Colgate University alumni United States Army soldiers Suicides by hanging in Maryland People from Yonkers, New York White House photographers Photographers from New York (state) Lyndon B. Johnson administration personnel American military personnel of Japanese descent