Leonard Kamsler, a Dissecting Wave Photographer, Dies at the Age of 85

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Leonard Kamsler, a photojournalist whose award-winning photos of professional golf have pushed the boundaries of sports strobe photography for nearly 50 years, while amassing a wealth of over 200,000 photos from the PGA Tour, passed away Nov. 18 in Bethel, NY. He was 85 years old.

His husband and only immediate survivor, Stephen Lyles, said the cause was organ failure. Mr. Kamsler had homes in Bethel and Manhattan.

Jim Richerson, president of the PGA of America, called Mr. Kamsler "the undisputed dean of golf photography." Last month, Mr. Kamsler the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in the organization's photojournalism.

Almost half of that life was spent on the golf course, although he lugged a camera instead of clubs. From 1963 he participated in 40 consecutive Masters tournaments, 17 of which were P.G.A. championships and 22 US Opens, freezing action moments in indelible images.

"His ability to get the perfect shot at the perfect moment was surpassed by anyone in the industry," said champion golfer Tom Watson in a videotaped tribute when Mr. Kamsler received the prize for his entire life.

Mr. Kamsler's technical innovations in high-speed strobe photography have cut the full arc of a golf swing from start to finish in stop-motion exposures – from address to backswing to contact to follow-through – every position of the hands, arms, feet, legs, torso, head and club contained in a single consecutive image reminiscent of a pinwheel.

George Peper, his editor at Golf Magazine for 25 of Mr. Kamsler in connection with the publication, said Mr. Kamsler was who "created without a doubt the swing sequence in golf".

Mr. Kamsler, he said, "learned on Edgerton's knee," referring to Harold Edgerton, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was pioneering stroboscopic technology. Mr. Kamsler began to consult with Mr. Edgerton in 1957.

He also developed a close relationship with Charles Hulcher, who had developed a special camera to record slow-motion studies of missile launches.

Mr. Kamsler's main tool was a colossal, super-fast 35 millimeter camera from Hulcher, originally designed to shoot at about 70 frames per second. He was able to push the limit to 100 and then 200 frames per second – meaning he could parse an entire golf swing in less than three seconds in lightning-fast exposure times.

Mr. Kamsler & # 39; s first consecutive stop motion study, of Arnold Palmer & # 39; s technique and clubhead dynamics, "caused a sensation," said Mr. Pepper, adding that it was "placed on the wall of every golf instructor in America" ​​as a teaching tool. Mr.

Mr. Kamsler has documented over 400 golf-swing sequences from other champion golfers, including Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Kathy Whitworth and Tiger Woods.

During a tournament, he could be innovative in capturing the action. A risky technique was to lay himself on the ground with his camera and have the best golfers in the world hit his head. While setting up a practice tee, he placed Mr. Nicklaus so close to him that the golfer's explosive shot just barely destroyed Mr. Kamsler's lens.

According to the PGA, Mr. Kamsler was the first photographer to use remote-controlled cameras behind the notoriously challenging holes 12 and 15 of the Augusta National Golf Club, where the Masters are played.

Some golfers hated being photographed up close during games, so Mr. Kamsler would resort to excuses. He once hid in a garbage bag to break camera-shy Australian Bruce Crampton.

Beginning in the 1970s, Mr. Kamsler expanded his field to profile artists in Nashville, including Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn. Many of his photos became the covers of record albums.

His collection of music art was recently acquired by the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, which has many on display. More than 20 of his photos were featured in "Country Music," Ken Burns' 2019 documentary series for PBS.

Mr. Kamsler's work in the field of strobe lighting also went further than just golf. He devised a complex strobe system to capture the first attempt at a five-fold somersault by the Flying Cranes air group of the Moscow Circus. The photo was in The New York Times Magazine on December 30, 1990, with a cover story about the group.

As a circus enthusiast, he also photographed performances of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, the animal trainer Gunther Gebel-Williams, and the magicians Siegfried & Roy & # 39; s stage act with tigers

As a PGA Tour contest, Mr. Kamsler could hardly be ignored. For years, he arrived at events in his candy-apple-red Cadillac Eldorado cabriolet with tail fin, his six-foot-long frame of roomy girth dressed in a golf shirt tucked into polyester pants held by a pair of suspenders.

His main sports shop was Golf Magazine, where he was a contract photographer from 1959 to 2019. His photos also appeared in many books.

Reducing golfers was part of photographing players who were prone to distraction during play. Mr. Kamsler "got the occasional shark bite," said Greg Norman, the Hall of Famer whose nickname was the Shark.

"He understood what that shark bite meant," added Mr. Norman in the video tribute, "That I was intense – and I was in my moment."

Once Mr. Kamsler once performed an "18 hole with" celebrity golf feature in Miami with actor Jack Nicholson. Mr. Nicholson's hat bill for hiding his eyes. "Nobody is touching Jake's hat!" Mr. Nicholson barked.

Leonard Macon Kamsler was born on October 18, 1935 in Raleigh, N.C., the son of Morton and Helen (Strother) Kamsler. His father owned a shop and his mother was a housewife. His father gave Leonard his first camera at the age of 12. He graduated from Broughton High School in Raleigh in 1957 and then Duke University. When he moved to Manhattan, he became a $ 32 a week assistant to famed photographer Milton H. Greene. One of his first assignments was to photograph Marilyn Monroe.

After serving in the military, Mr. Kamsler returned to Manhattan and got a job as a freelance photographer.

His passion for strobe photography led him to golf – because of the opportunities it offered him "to capture motion," said Mr. Lyles, his husband, adding, "He started knocking on doors until they would look at his photos. "

Mr. . Kamsler sold his library of more than 200,000 images in 2018 to Popperfoto, a partnership with Getty Images.

Despite all its involvement in golf, the game itself never beckoned for more than its shutter finger. After a life of trudging with tournaments, Mr. Kamsler said proudly, "I've never played a game of golf."

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