Ralph Crane (1913 - 1988) was the legendary Life magazine staff photographer, a colorful character who traveled with a stepladder and usually had three cameras strung around his neck.
The German-born Crane, who drew as much attention as the fine pictures he shot over several decades, had retired to Switzerland years ago but continued to work for Time Inc. publications.
"What Crane sees is both more and less than the rest of us," wrote former colleague Art Seidenbaum, now The Times' Opinion Section editor, in an article marking Crane's departure from Los Angeles in 1963. "He sees pictures, and if part of his surrounding is not pictorial then he does not see it at all. I have seen Ralph Crane walk through a screen door, unopened, in pursuit of a photograph. I have watched him stare at the world with one eye tightly shut, for that is the way a camera reflects the world. I've laughed at him standing thigh-deep in oozing mud because from that ugly spot he could best focus on something beautiful across the way.”
He moved fast, always working at the magical minutes surrounding dawn and sunset and seemingly sustained by little more than four iced teas gulped at one sitting to save time.
© 2018. All images are copyrighted © Ralph Crane. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.
The German-born Crane, who drew as much attention as the fine pictures he shot over several decades, had retired to Switzerland years ago but continued to work for Time Inc. publications.
"What Crane sees is both more and less than the rest of us," wrote former colleague Art Seidenbaum, now The Times' Opinion Section editor, in an article marking Crane's departure from Los Angeles in 1963. "He sees pictures, and if part of his surrounding is not pictorial then he does not see it at all. I have seen Ralph Crane walk through a screen door, unopened, in pursuit of a photograph. I have watched him stare at the world with one eye tightly shut, for that is the way a camera reflects the world. I've laughed at him standing thigh-deep in oozing mud because from that ugly spot he could best focus on something beautiful across the way.”
He moved fast, always working at the magical minutes surrounding dawn and sunset and seemingly sustained by little more than four iced teas gulped at one sitting to save time.
© 2018. All images are copyrighted © Ralph Crane. The use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission from the artist is obtained.
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| 1944, set of what is identified as Warner Bros.’ remake of “The Petrified Forest.” Presumably this is “Escape in the Desert.” |
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| 1945, Lauren Bacall |
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| 1945, Lauren Bacall |
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| 1947, Sixty high school cheerleaders with crepe-paper pompons whip up football spirit |
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| 1948, Alfred Hitchcock Rehearsal for "The Rope" |
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| 1950's Natalie Wood |
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| 1950, Independence Day, Santa Monica. California |
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| 1952, High school girls sporting formal dresses as they gather for the dance |
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| 1952, Kentucky |
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| 1953, Eastern Sector West Berlin Germany |
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| 1953, Women singing in a wine cellar during a party, Germany |
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| 1957, George Van Tassel's 1957 Interplanetary Spacecraft Convention |
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| 1957, life, the back |
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| 1957, Men pushing car during Nat. Hot Rod Associations Drag Meeting, Santa Ana, CA |
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| 1957, Ricky Nelson |
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| 1957, "The Back" because of her dresses that were more than backless - they were cut down to just above the gluteal cleft, causing quite a commotion |
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| 1957, Vikki Dougan in backless dress in the streets of LA |
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| 1957, Vikki Dougan mirror foreground |
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| 1957, Vikki Dougan Swiming Pool |
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| 1957, Vikki Dougan Swiming Pool |
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| 1957, Vikki Dougan, Life |
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| 1958, Kim Novak |
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| 1958, Ricky Nelson signing autographs for mob of young female fans |
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| 1959, Miss Space. Las Vegas |
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| 1960 - JFK Campaigns in Logan County, West Virginia |
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| 1960, Debbie Reynolds and Fred Astaire |
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| 1961, All Night Prom At Disneyland Date taken |
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| 1961, All Night Prom At Disneyland Date taken |
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| 1961, All-night prom at Disneyland |
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| 1961, Black cat auditions Hollywood |
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| 1961, Black cat auditions Hollywood |
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| 1961, Black cat auditions Hollywood |
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| 1961, Black cat auditions Hollywood |
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| 1961, Calling All Black Cats |
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| 1961, Black cat auditions Hollywood |
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| 1962, A crowd watches John F. Kennedy address the nation during the Cuban Missile Crisis |
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| 1962, Nixon's Last Press Conference |
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| 1965, Australians marching down beach with life saving towline on reel at International Surf Festival Redondo Beach, CA |
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| 1965, Commuter |
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| 1967, Poet Rod McKuen playing record on stereo set while pet Siamese cat nuzzles his face affectionately. |
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| 1967 Poet Rod McKuen swinging from sign which is title of one his songs, Stanyan Street |
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| 1967 Twiggy at Disneyland |
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| 1967, Poet Rod McKuen writing song lyrics in his bathtub, at home |
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| 1967, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam at Golden Gate Park's Kezar Stadium on April 15 |
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| 1967, Three East German guards goose-stepping as they march in front of the War Memorial, East Berlin |
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| 1967, Twiggy |
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| 1967, Twiggy |
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| 1967, Twiggy in California during her first visit to the U.S. |
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| 1967, Twiggy- Rare Photos of a Swinging Sixties |
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| 1969, In-car entertainment- An elderly woman buskers with a cane and accordion |
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| 1969, Long Island Expressway, Empire State Building |
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| 1969, The Manson Family's California Hovels: Scenes From the Bottomless Pit |
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| Charlie Rosen and SHAKEY, in a photo used in a November 1970 LIFE |
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| 1971, Teen mom |
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| 1972 Ganzfeld test subjects |
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