He was a fit, wiry 51-year-old Life staffer at the time, but Ralph Morse recalls the day his photos helped make history in July 1969.

    He’d set up a remote camera alongside the liftoff pad at Cape Canaveral, and was shooting additional photos from a helicopter.

    The spacecraft lifting off that July 16th was none other than what would be the first successful manned moon-landing launch-vehicle, Apollo 11. Astronauts would walk on the moon for the first time, four days later.

    In March that year, because he was Life’s staffer assigned to the early years of the space program, Morse had photographed the families of the three Apollo 11 astronauts, posed around a model of the moon.

     Neil Armstrong, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, and Michael Collins have been notable people for many years thereafter, though they’ve been hard to get interviews and photos from, other than what Life’s Morse and his colleagues got, early on.

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      As the rocket blasted off, Morse’s remote-controlled camera caught five frames that would be used as a sequence across a two-page spread in Life. It’s a very dramatic sequence, because the camera was incredibly close to the rocket.

      That notable day in 1969 was not Ralph Morse’s only historic picture-taking day. He also got an exclusive for Life in 1942, when he photographed the takeoff of a plane at the start of the Doolittle Raids. He was also with US Marines at Guadalcanal that year.

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Former Life colleague John Loengard, who photographed and was also a picture editor for Life, explained that Morse was a civilian war correspondent in World War II, and got to the places he did, because he was assigned to Life.

    Later, Morse would photograph Gen. Eisenhower famously flashing a Victory Sign at the German surrender ceremony in 1945. And he’d photograph, iconically, Jackie Robinson stealing home. In addition, he photographed Babe Ruth’s final day in a Yankee uniform, though Nat Fein, a Life colleague, got the most iconic photo that day, with Babe waving to the crowd, No. 3’s back to the camera.

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Another space program view by Morse that is iconic (a Life cover-photo) is a portrait of light-waves showing the contours of an Air Force GI’s head, which was how space-helmet shapes and sizes were determined.

    At age 92, ensconced in Del Ray, Florida, Morse, reflected about the place in history of his images.

    “Though they’re all important, because we were chronicle-izing the era, you’re excited at the moment (for getting a good shot), and then you go on to do the next work. History tells you of (each photo’s) importance, gradually.’

     Morse was a staffer for Life from 1942 until 1972, when the magazine first closed, and was transferred to Time Magazine in 1972, where he worked until 1988. I was introduced to Mr. Morse a couple of years ago by John Loengard, whom I’ve written about for Smithsonian Magazine. Both men have taken part in photo-anthologies I direct/edit.

     Photographer Jim McNitt, who worked with Morse on several Time Magazine assignments in the 1970s, describes him as a fun-loving extrovert, who delighted in mentoring an aspiring photojournalist. “Watching Ralph plan his shots, respond to editors, and deal with reluctant subjects with off-hand humor taught me things I couldn’t learn in photo magazines or workshops,” said McNitt.

     Former Life Editor Georgia Hunt once said, ‘If LIFE could afford only one photographer, it would be Ralph Morse.’  

     Today, Ralph Morse likes to see his own family, but jokingly says he no longer owns a camera, “because if I did, every grandmother would want me to take pictures of their grandchildren.’

     And when you see his photos, readers can understand why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Morse

http://www.gallerym.com/works.cfm?ID_artist=41

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