Bill Pierce
Well-known
Dirck Halstead died early Friday morning.
Dirck Halstead was among the best of the last generation of the news photographers that worked for the printed newsmagazines. He started with UPI before moving to Time Magazine which, at the time, was the largest circulation news magazine in the world. There he shot 52 covers, won the Robert Capa for Vietnam photographs, worked as Time’s chief WhiteHouse photographer and covered the war in Lebanon. Actually, he did more than cover it. He assigned and led the team of photographers that Time had in Beirut. He was the boss. And, as was his nature, he helped the photographers around him whether they worked for Time or not. Example, Don McCullin was in Lebanon when the London Times changed ownership and he found himself without a job. Dirck helped him get an assignment from Newsweek, Time’s most obvious competitor. And I know the two stood side by side photographing one of the last events of the war.
And yet, even with his commitment to the printed magazine, he saw the future, was one of the people who unsuccessfully encouraged Time to increase their internet presence and started the Digital Journalist and the Platypus Workshops.
I was a lucky guy. When John Durniak revamped the Time Magazine contract photographers the first two he hired were Dirck Halstead and Eddie Adams, perhaps the two best photographers coming out of the Vietnam war. I was the lucky third guy who got not only co workers but friends for life. There’s been a lot said about Dirck by his friends. Bill Henderson was a Marine who worked with Dirck in Vietnam and Lebanon and the U.S.A.. What Bill says is probably the best expression of what a lot of us feel.
“I am heartsick at this news. Dirck was my dear friend for many years. He and I tripped from Saigon to Hanoi the long way, zigzagging from the Cambodian border to the South China Sea a Nha Trang and up to Da Nang… Oh, my memories of great life adventures alongside Dirck are one of my greatest treasures, and I shall miss him as much as my own brother, for he was a brother to me. A dear, dear friend indeed. Always kind, always considerate, always cheerful to help. May God send flights of Angels to you, Dirck, and carry you away. We will see each other again. I am certain”
Dirck Halstead was among the best of the last generation of the news photographers that worked for the printed newsmagazines. He started with UPI before moving to Time Magazine which, at the time, was the largest circulation news magazine in the world. There he shot 52 covers, won the Robert Capa for Vietnam photographs, worked as Time’s chief WhiteHouse photographer and covered the war in Lebanon. Actually, he did more than cover it. He assigned and led the team of photographers that Time had in Beirut. He was the boss. And, as was his nature, he helped the photographers around him whether they worked for Time or not. Example, Don McCullin was in Lebanon when the London Times changed ownership and he found himself without a job. Dirck helped him get an assignment from Newsweek, Time’s most obvious competitor. And I know the two stood side by side photographing one of the last events of the war.
And yet, even with his commitment to the printed magazine, he saw the future, was one of the people who unsuccessfully encouraged Time to increase their internet presence and started the Digital Journalist and the Platypus Workshops.
I was a lucky guy. When John Durniak revamped the Time Magazine contract photographers the first two he hired were Dirck Halstead and Eddie Adams, perhaps the two best photographers coming out of the Vietnam war. I was the lucky third guy who got not only co workers but friends for life. There’s been a lot said about Dirck by his friends. Bill Henderson was a Marine who worked with Dirck in Vietnam and Lebanon and the U.S.A.. What Bill says is probably the best expression of what a lot of us feel.
“I am heartsick at this news. Dirck was my dear friend for many years. He and I tripped from Saigon to Hanoi the long way, zigzagging from the Cambodian border to the South China Sea a Nha Trang and up to Da Nang… Oh, my memories of great life adventures alongside Dirck are one of my greatest treasures, and I shall miss him as much as my own brother, for he was a brother to me. A dear, dear friend indeed. Always kind, always considerate, always cheerful to help. May God send flights of Angels to you, Dirck, and carry you away. We will see each other again. I am certain”
Bill Pierce
Well-known
For those of you who subscribe to the New York Times, here is their obituary.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/b...tead-dead.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/25/b...tead-dead.html
lynnb
Mentor
Thanks Bill. I'm sorry you've lost a friend.
I read The Digital Journalist from its inception. It was excellent.
I read The Digital Journalist from its inception. It was excellent.
Dogman
Mentor
Sad.
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sevres_babylone
Mentor
Sad to hear this. I only came to know him through The Digital Journalist which was one of the best early photography websites.
sevres_babylone
Mentor
Here is another remembrance from the Briscoe Center. https://briscoecenter.org/about/news/in-memoriam-dirck-halstead-1936-2022/
farlymac
PF McFarland
Sorry for your friend Dirck's passing, Bill. Truly a great person all around. I've read about him over the years. Would be a good thing for us all to try and emulate what he did in his life.
PF
PF
rulnacco
Well-known
Thanks for this moving tribute to a great photographer--and someone who sounds like a very, very good man indeed who lived a fantastic and fulfilling life. He surely was an amazing friend. I will seek out his work.
Timmyjoe
Mentor
Thanks for posting this Bill. I'm sorry for the loss of your friend.
Best,
-Tim
Best,
-Tim