EAD2015 Program

2015 13 JUNE 2015 • HERITAGE MUSEUM • TARENTUM • PA • 10:00AM

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Adams

Who was Eddie Adams?

With his signature hat, ponytail and unassuming disposition, one might not realize that photographer Eddie Adams covered 13 wars, beginning with a stint as a Marine Corps combat photographer in Korea in the early 1950s and ending in Kuwait in 1991.

He did three tours of Vietnam with the Associated Press and won the Pulitzer Prize for photography for his shot of a Viet Cong lieutenant being executed at close range on a Saigon street by a South Vietnamese general. In his more than Eddie Adams by Eugene Pierce five decades as a working photographer, Adams received more than 500 awards honoring his work, including World Press, New York Press, National Headliners and Sigma Delta Chi Awards. He said he likes getting them; that they’re nice. But he didn’t display them. He didn’t display that famous photo from Vietnam, either. If he’d had his way, that photo would never be released for publication again.

Adams photographed some of the most celebrated people in the world: Ronald Reagan, Fidel Castro, whom he liked, and Pope John Paul II; Jerry Lewis, Clint Eastwood and Bette Davis; Big Bird and Mickey Mouse. All of them, and many more, have looked into Adams’ lens. He remains one of the most published photographers in the U.S., with Eddie Adams/Associated Press.

Saigon Execution his work gracing the pages of newspapers and magazines like TIME, VOGUE, VANITY FAIR and PARADE. His career spanned journalism, corporate, editorial, fashion, entertainment and advertising photography. He photographed leaders in all fields, from politics to the superstars of film, television, sports and high fashion. His portfolio includes oneon-one sessions with seven U.S. Presidents and sixty-five Heads of State.

“Eddie’s genius is his talent for capturing tension in every photo, whether it be the still of a murder or the animation in the eyes of a movie star,” says PARADE Chairman Walter Anderson. “He is eclectic, incomparable and cantankerous. He is unyielding in the pursuit of excellence.”

Eddie Adams/Associated Press From “Boat of No Smiles.” 1977.

It’s not the war photos or the celebrity photos or the awards that define what’s most important about Adams’ work. It’s the photos that have moved and inspired people to do good; the photos that have led to important change in government policy and people’s lives. He was proud of his 1979 shot “Boat of No Smiles,” depicting 50 Vietnamese on a 30-foot fishing boat fleeing their homeland.

It was such a dire time for them, not even the children on board could find pleasure in a boat ride. It was Adams’ photo of these “boat people” that ultimately led Congress and President Jimmy Carter to open the door to the U.S. to more than 200,000 Vietnamese refugees.

In 1995, Adams created a photo essay for PARADE of some of “the most amazing, most beautiful children in America.” One image — that of a 3-year-old with leukemia, who was photographed with her security blanket — moved one woman so much that she started an organization. Project Linus, founded by Karen Loucks, is a non-profit that provides security blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need through the gifts of blankets and afghans created by volunteers. Today, there are more than 300 chapters of Project Linus in the U.S. and abroad.

Adams began his photography career as a high school student in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, shooting weddings and other events for $20. He eventually got a job with the New Kensington Daily Dispatch. From there, he went to the Enquirer & News in Battle Creek, Mich., and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. In 1962, he joined the Associated Press. After a decade, Adams left the AP for TIME magazine and freelance work. He rejoined the AP in 1976, where he was the first and only photographer to hold the title of special correspondent. In 1980, Adams became a PARADE magazine photographer and, from 1982-2004, was a special correspondent to PARADE, which has featured more than 350 of Adams’ photos on its cover over the years.

Eddie Adams passed away on September 19, 2004 from ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease).

His legacy continues in the annual photojournalism workshop, Barnstorm: The Eddie Adams Workshop, which he created in 1988, and is still running strong today. www.eddieadamsworkshop.com Alyssa and Eddie Adams

Photo by Dirck Halstead

Justin Merriman

Our guest speaker for EAD2015 is Justin Merriman, an award-winning photojournalist with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He has spent more than a decade traveling the world to cover politics, wars, natural disasters and civil unrest. His work has appeared in leading national publications and he has received multiple top journalism awards.

After covering the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks – including the crash of United Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pennsylvania – Merriman committed to chronicling the U.S. military and its war on terror. He has followed this story across the United States and into the conflict zones of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also has covered life in Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 2002, India’s efforts to eradicate polio from its population, the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pope Benedicts XVI’s visit to Cuba in 2012, the 2013 conclave and election of Pope Francis in Rome, the second anniversary of Egypt’s revolution and subsequent unrest, Russia’s invasion of Crimea and the international political crisis that unfolded in Ukraine in 2014, and most recently, traveled the U.S. border with Mexico documenting issues on immigration.

Justin has worked at the Tribune-Review since 1999, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, American Profile Magazine, Time, USA Today, MSNBC, Sports Illustrated and publications across the globe. He has been recognized with numerous regional, national and international awards from organizations including: the Society of Professional Journalists, the National Press Photographers Association, the Society for News Design, the Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, the Northern Short Course, the Southern Short Course, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the Military Reporters and Editors Association, and the Western Pennsylvania Press Club. He was awarded Photographer of the Year by the News Photographer Association of Greater Pittsburgh four times.

In 2014, Merriman received awards for his work in Egypt including the top award in the International Photo Story category in the Northern Short Course contest and an award of excellence in the Pictures of the Year International Competition for News Picture Story.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Merriman graduated from the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Writing. In 2009, the university awarded him its prestigious Alumnus of Distinction award.

Currently Merriman lives in Oakmont with his fiancé, Stephanie Strasburg, also a photojournalist with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Justin is a Barnstorm XV alumnus and worked for the Valley News Dispatch.

Alyssa Adams

On behalf of Eddie and his family I would like to thank New Kensington for remembering and keeping Eddie’s legacy in the forefront of our minds.

I am currently working on a retrospective book and am constantly amazed at the places he went and the images he captured--from the early images when he worked at New Kensington Dispatch, thru his Associated Press days and later at Parade Magazine. Reading thru his notes and memos I am reminded of his tenacity. I credit that, and I think Eddie would agree, to his growing up in the vibrant, varied and supportive community of New Kensington.

There are so many messages in Eddie’s photography that we will continue to discover. I think after you see the 10 min short this weekend on his Saigon photo you will agree that we should pay attention to the history lessons in his photography and the serious questions they raise.

Thank you to the New Kensington Camera Club and Don Henderson, to Dolly Mistrik and the Alleghany Kiski Historial Society, to Justin Merriman the guest speaker today, to Hank and Peggy Martone and everyone involved in coming together to celebrate photography and Eddie Adams Day. -Alyssa Adams eddieadamsworkshop.com bathhousestudios.com eddieadamsbarn.com

Eddie Adams Vietnam

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Best Wishes to EAD2015 from