Llewellyn Berry

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Ken Lambert Seize the Moment

Posted on March 21, 2011by Llewellyn Berry

One of the first photographs I remember Ken Lambert making…capturing, was when I gave an assignment that sent him and his classmates downtown. As I said before, I sent them to the National Mall or just downtown, in general, to see and capture urban life. The juxtapositions of people and their things, as well as their habits, make for great photographs. Especially when we look the Masters – W.Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier Bresson, Gordon Parks, Moneta Sleet and so many others. Bresson, in particular, was an enormous influence on my photographic vision and of course that being a primary orientation for me, I passed it on to my students. After all the photojournalism class was part of the Urban Journalism Workshop. It was always a useful assignment because, in each issue of 1310 our feature news magazine, we tried to provide a showcase for those photographers who were able to produce photo essays or photo stories of urban life.

Ken processed a roll of film, made the contact sheet and there it was – a shot of someone with their head stuck in a mailbox. The woman or man, I forget which, just had his head inside the mailbox. No reason; well, no reason to any of the sane passersby, but we were sure he had a reason. His head was not stuck; it was just inside the mailbox. We didn’t particularly care; it made for a great photograph.

Ken had seized the moment. He had captured a moment in urban life. He got it and he got it early. He understood what was meant by the “decisive moment” and he always kept that as his photographic prime directive. Ken went on to do extraordinary photo work. There was a photo story on instrumentalists at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He captured the violin instructor, Ramona Matthews taking the time to correct and encourage a promising student. He photographed Dr. Calvin Dash with a student vocalist.

There was his time at Syracuse where he did photo study work in 4×5 format – extraordinary. Then he went to work for the Washington Times and Associated Press here in Washington, DC. He has moved to Seattle to work for the Seattle Times.

This is a link to his work. He is an extraordinary news photographer and I am extremely proud of him. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/photography202/1.html

Ken Lambert, in his own words:

I remember a picture, I think it was Gina’s, [Gina Stevens] of several people cutting jagged forms in wheelchairs, that struck a very compassionate chord for me. And I remember that picture of the mailbox but can’t find it. The sad truth is I was able to cover a lot of ground, literally, in your class because I had something most other kids didn’t: a car. My mother had just died and I got hers.

The Ellington photos (attached they are incorporated into a college layout exercise) were THE

Unidentified Instrumental Student

Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Washington, DC

1979

breakthrough for me in your class. They weren’t just portraiture, they were moments…especially the series of a frustrated voice teacher (Dr. Dash, as I remember) striking his forehead when the student couldn’t get to where he wanted him to go. The printing was finally exactly what I wanted in terms of contrast and midtone, not to mention it was the first time I bounced a flash correctly (on the sax player).

Dr. Calvin Dash

Vocal Instructor

Monica Otal

Accompanist

Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Excerpt from 1310 Magazine

The Urban Journalism Workshop

1979

Top Photo

Carolyn Kellock

Cello Instructor

Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Excerpt from 1310 Magazine

The Urban Journalism Workshop

1979

Bottom Photo

Ramona Matthews

Violin Instructor

Duke Ellington School of the Arts

Excerpt from 1310 Magazine

The Urban Journalism Workshop

1979

My other fond memory (no, not the one stealing a brick of Tri-X) was the scavenger hunt. I did a tombstone rubbing of Sousa’s grave and also collected water from the Anacostia River to prove I went there. As a somewhat sheltered white kid from NW I think it was the first time I ever set foot near Anacostia. Going “where you don’t normally go,” which I’ve made a career of, is as essential to photojournalism as a camera. On a humorous note, I think I won the scavenger contest, collecting everything first. Another student challenged the authenticity of my river water, yelling, “That water’s too clean,” which of course it wasn’t!

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*Lew’s note: In 2001 I asked Ken for a recommendation as I was trying to save my job at Ellington after 15 years. This is what Ken wrote:

Ken Lambert Pictures

P.O. Box 11045 o Washington, DC 20008

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to express a special appreciation for my high school photojournalism instructor, Lew Berry. I was a student of Lew’s almost 20 years ago, while a senior at Wilson High School, here in Washington. I was always interested in photography, but Lew took me far beyond that, not only exposing me to classic photographers like Arnold Newman and Gordon Parks but showing me how I could make photography something much more than a hobby. It could be a lifetime adventure.

Under his guidance at the Penn Center, near McKinley High School, I thrived during my senior year, even though it was a tough time for me because I had just lost my mother. Lew edited and published my first student newspaper pictures of worth: the groundbreaking for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Later, he recommended I apply to Syracuse University’s photojournalism program. I got in and graduated four years later, cum laude. Today, after a 14-year newspaper career, I am currently in a new job, as a staff photographer with the Associated Press, covering the White House and Capitol Hill.

Lew had an important impact on my development, showing me that being a photographer takes skill, vision, courage, and constant hard work. He also showed me that other facets of human creativity are important to perfecting one’s own craft, as a photographer. Lew supplied a steady stream of pictures for inspiration, but he also played lots of jazz as part of my creative learning experience. The music helped me through the long hours in the darkroom, trying to make that perfect print.

I always admired Lew because he is not only a great photographer but an articulate one to boot. An excellent writer, and insightful speaker, I realized to be like Lew meant having to work on more than just photography. Part of being a success as a photographer would entail being an overall success as a person. Writing skills, people skills, total commitment to one’s craft, and above all, honesty, mattered.

Over the years I’ve kept in touch with Lew. Remembering my roots is important. It is disturbing to me when I think of Lew not having an opportunity to teach because he has always had something very important to contribute here. I know all his former students who have gone on to successful careers would agree. And there are many of us.

I think what makes Lew an outstanding teacher is his vision and positive energy. I can’t remember him ever being negative about anything. He would always make my mistakes into learning experiences. I share Lew’s vision: that people are not just objects to be captured on film. They have souls and stories to tell. I think what I learned early in Lew’s class, and what has stuck with me for 20 years, is an appreciation for the people beyond the images we create of them. Photography may be what we do to tell a story, but it is never more important than people. Not even a top dollar education at Syracuse taught students this. But Lew did.

Sincerely yours,

Ken Lambert 3/29/01

Ken Lambert, Lew Berry

Washington, DC

Photo by

Linda Berry

1988