By Sue Morrow
We lost a giant in our profession. An NPPA member since 1971, Dirck Halstead died on March 25, 2022, in Boquete, Panama, of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 85.
The stories of Dirck’s life unfolded across all social media — not just war stories, but stories of enduring friendships, kindness and the consequential ripple effects Dirck had on careers.
“You couldn’t have a better friend than in Dirck Halstead,” David Hume Kennerly, Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, said in a phone conversation. “He was the real deal: a prince of photography, and we were all little princelings. It was fun being his friend.”
“Dirck was always supportive of photographers, not threatened by someone else’s success. He was happy for others to do well,” Kennerly said. “He approached the news with an intellectual point of view. He was not just a photographer but a complete journalist. Part of what made him successful was he cared about what was going on, and he acted on what was going on.”
Dirck was best known for his work for Time magazine, United Press International (UPI) and Life magazine. He covered major world events for 50 years, including the Vietnam War, President Richard Nixon’s trip to China, the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. He was pivotal in bringing our profession into the digital age and was also an instructor at the University of Texas at Austin.
At 17, he began his photojournalism career during high school and became Life magazine’s youngest combat photographer, covering the 1954 Guatemalan Civil War. (The editors at Life had no idea how old he was.) Dirck attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania for a year but was more interested in a photography position in Dallas. Soon he was drafted and became a photographer in the U.S. Army for two years.
Dirck joined the staff of UPI in 1956. He later said, “Back then, there was no such word as ‘photojournalist.’ You were a press photographer.”
In 1965, he opened the first UPI picture bureau in Saigon as the Vietnam War escalated. Along with his competitor, AP photographer Eddie Adams, he covered the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade wading ashore on the beach at Da Nang in March 1965, the first U.S. combat troops to enter the war. And 10 years later, he covered the fall of Saigon.
“Dirck was cool under fire,” Kennerly said. “One time in 1972 we were pinned down by North Vietnamese regulars near An Loc. South Vietnamese soldiers were dying left and right around us, mortar rounds were exploding, we were taking heavy machine gun fire from the tree line when Dirck looked at me and said, ‘Can’t wait to have a drink at the Melody Bar tonight.’”
In his 2006 memoir, “Moments in Time: Photos and Stories from One of America's Top Photojournalists,” Dirck described leaving Saigon: “I looked down and watched the city that had been so much a part of my life slip over the horizon. The bends of the Mekong (River) lie before me. I realize that I’m feeling that a vital part of my life is coming to a close. ... How can it be that in a place of war, I find the happiest times I have ever known? How could I possibly explain to someone who hasn’t experienced it how much more alive I feel returning to Saigon at the end of the day and living and enduring in a place where I’m not even sure I will survive?”
In 1992, he played an instrumental part in the formation of Video News International (VNI), teaching still photojournalists to cross the barrier between print and television. Dirck created the Platypus workshops to teach others how to create their own documentary videos.
The online magazine “The Digital Journalist” was Dirck’s brainchild founded in 1997, and he served as editor and publisher. It provided photojournalists a forum to exhibit their work and the space for frank discussions about the state of photojournalism and the news media.
He also played a significant role in the NPPA and was the 2004 recipient of the Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award. Dirck twice won NPPA Picture of the Year, the Robert Capa Gold Medal for his coverage of the 1975 fall of Saigon, and two Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards from the Columbia University School of Journalism. In 2002, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the White House News Photographers Association (WHNPA). The University of Missouri presented him with the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism in 2007.
And this: An unprecedented 52 Time magazine covers.
“As a photographer during the golden era of magazine photojournalism, Dirck had a front row seat to capture some of the most amazing moments in history. He could have lived on that legacy, but Dirck was never looking backward. He was always looking forward and dreaming of the possibilities of what might be possible,” Donald Winslow, former News Photographer editor, wrote in an email. “His understanding of movies and music and storytelling and the emerging digital electronics — combined with his vision and imagination — made him one of the very first to lead photojournalism into the era of video and digital presentation on the fledgling Internet. And he was totally genuine and unselfish, sharing everything equally with his peers and rookie students.”
Dirck also worked in Hollywood, creating images for the advertising of films such as “Goodfellas,” “Memphis Belle,” “Shaft,” “Black Rain,” “Dragon,” “Dune,” “Conan the Barbarian,” “Greystoke” and “Cliffhanger.”
I first read about Dirck in Kennerly’s 1979 book “Shooter.” They were best of friends and worked side by side in Vietnam and Washington, D.C., for UPI and Time magazine. It was Dirck who had “convinced the UPI executives in New York that a brash young photographer named Kennerly who was working for them in Los Angeles should be brought to New York for training … and it wasn’t long after I arrived in Manhattan that I began getting important assignments thanks to Dirck,” wrote Kennerly in his book.
In 2007, I had the privilege of finally meeting Dirck during a two-day Platypus workshop at The Fresno Bee in California. I drove down from Sacramento with a few of my Sacramento Bee colleagues, and Dirck taught us the basics of video. I still think about him when teaching video to students. He was enthusiastic, kind and patient. He was passionate about giving photojournalists the tools needed to keep doing great and relevant work.
When pontificating about the critical value and ownership of your photographs, I always cite Dirck’s stunning find in 1998: Bill Clinton hugging Monica Lewinsky at a 1996 fundraiser.
“I have a theory,” Halstead wrote in “The Monica Lesson” on The Digital Journalist, “that every time the shutter captures a frame, that image is recorded at a very low threshold in the brain of the photographer.” Two years later, when the story broke, Dirck recognized Lewinsky. He hired a researcher, and four days and over 5,000 slides later, there was the picture, which became another Time magazine cover.
“I am not talking about Monica versus the President … who is lying and who is not …,” Dirck wrote, “I am talking about the photographers who record history and have an obligation to make those photographs available to future generations.” It’s a great lesson in keeping your archives in order.
Dirck donated his archive to the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas in 1995.
Photographer PF Bentley described Dirck on Facebook: “TIME’s Senior White House Photographer always dapper in his tailored blue blazer, pocket handkerchief, and Gucci shoes” was a digital evangelist in the 1990s.
“He tried to tell TIME editors and executives that they needed to shift from being a media company and not just magazine publishing with the web as an add-on,” Bentley wrote. “They thought it was a wacky idea and dismissed it with no merit. Major news organizations have now 25 years later branched out to being media companies to survive. … He was a visionary. Guess what … Dirck was right.”
Dirck’s kindness led to great successes. He shared his wealth of knowledge and passed along opportunities to young photographers.
Rick Smolan wrote on Facebook: “Few people know this, but in many ways, Dirck was actually the father of the DAY IN THE LIFE projects. … Dirck was not only responsible for getting me to Asia it was his introducing me to the concept of bartering my photography for hotels and flights that made the DITL Australia and all the subsequent books possible. … It's mind boggling when you think of all the ripple effects and all the friendships, marriages, babies, and the number of lives touched by Dirck's generous advice to a 26-year-old fledgling photographer all those years ago! Thank you Dirck ...... R.I P.”
The pictures and words pouring out on Instagram and Facebook are beautiful reflections and memories of those who broke ground and led the golden age of photojournalism.
David Burnett, a prolific photographer and writer, described Dirck’s confidence among influential people, his penchant for flying first class, and a style that went “beyond his shoes.”
“He always wore Gucci loafers and was usually the only person not talking about them,” Burnett wrote on Facebook.
“The outpouring of stories and goodwill was the kind of thing most of us never get to hear while we are alive, only afterward,” Burnett wrote. “But I’m going to believe that perhaps somehow, someway, Dirck was just getting ready for that next assignment, had relieved his feet from the Guccis, and was swirling a little snifter of cognac, and just quietly, in his own way, taking it all in, reminding himself one more time, of a life well-lived.”
Let this be a lesson for all of us. Tell those we love how much we care. And let them know how much valuable memories count and how their kindness ripples through a lifetime, making a difference in the world.
He is survived by his sister Anne MacPherson of Durham, New York; a nephew, Halstead York; and godchild, Byron Hume Kennerly of Los Angeles.
Related story:
Dirck Halstead, Photojournalist Who Captured History, Dies at 85, in The New York Times.
Dirck’s work is represented by Getty Images.
The Dirck Halstead Photographic Archive consists of over 500,000 photographic images in various formats, including prints (color and black & white), mounted prints (color and black & white), laminated prints, contact sheets (color and black & white), transparencies (including 35mm slides), internegatives (4"x5" and 8"x10"), 35mm negatives, 120mm negatives, correspondence, printed materials, creative works, business records and artifacts. These images are largely in transparent format.
The photographic material covers Dirck’s work from the 1950s through 2001 and includes subject matter such as world events, topical news stories, famous personalities and the United States presidencies from Kennedy to George W. Bush. The personal papers include presidential trip itineraries, magazines (and magazine covers), and assignment materials related to his work with United Press International (UPI) and Time Magazine. The artifacts include press passes and awards.
Sue Morrow is editor of News Photographer magazine for the NPPA. She can be reached at [email protected].
About the Dirck Halstead's archive and how to contribute:
Memorial contributions may be made to the Briscoe Center Photography Collections to fund an internship in Dirck Halstead’s name at the Briscoe Center for American History at The University of Texas at Austin.
The Dirck Halstead Photographic Archive consists of over 500,000 photographic images in various formats, including prints (color and black & white), mounted prints (color and black & white), laminated prints, contact sheets (color and black & white), transparencies (including 35mm slides), internegatives (4″x5″ and 8″x10″), 35mm negatives, 120mm negatives, correspondence, printed materials, creative works, business records, and artifacts. These images are largely in transparent format.
The photographic material covers Halstead’s work from the 1950s through 2001 and includes subject matter such as world events, topical news stories, famous personalities, and the United States presidencies from Kennedy to Clinton. The personal papers include presidential trip itineraries, magazines (and magazine covers), and assignment materials related to his work with United Press International (UPI) and Time Magazine. The artifacts include press passes and awards.
