Hy Peskin

Hyman "Hy" Peskin (November 5, 1915 – June 2, 2005) was an American photographer known for several famous photographs of American sports people and celebrities published by Sports Illustrated and Life. He was a pioneer of sports photography, with his work being ranked amongst the best sports photojournalism of the 20th century. In 1966 he changed his name to Brian Blaine Reynolds, and founded the Academy of Achievement, bringing young people together with statesmen and Nobel Prize winners.

He was born to Russian Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, where his father Elias Peskowitz was a tailor who lost his job in the Depression, the family being saved by Hy's first job as a newspaper seller.

Peskin became a newspaper journalist at the New York Daily Mirror after it started up in 1924, but soon became a photographer because it paid a higher salary.

Sports photographers would work from the press box, limiting the pictures they could take. Peskin was the first sports photographer to cover the action from the sideline or climb up on the roof to obtain more interesting shots. In his early days, he was known for the photographs he took of the Brooklyn Dodgers from Ebbets Field. Peskin often said "I helped make the Dodgers famous and they helped make me".

After serving in the Marines during World War II, he wanted to start work as a magazine photographer using color. He applied for positions with 20 magazines but only Look showed any interest. It offered him a job after showing the photo editor pictures of a boxing match he had taken showing the blood on one boxer's face.

Peskin was the first staff photographer hired by Sports Illustrated. "The number of famous pictures that he made here is astonishing," Steve Fine, the director of photography at Sports Illustrated told The New York Times. His picture of Ben Hogan playing a 1-iron shot to the green at the 72nd hole of the 1950 US Open was ranked by Sports Illustrated as one of the greatest sports photographs of the twentieth century. "Instead of following every other shooter to the green, Hy hung back and took his shot from behind Hogan," recalled longtime Sports Illustrated photographer Neil Leifer in an essay in the magazine. "You don't even see Hogan's face, yet it's all there: that perfect swing, his signature cap, the crowd. It's one of the most iconic sports photos ever taken, and Hy got it on one of the most important swings of Hogan's career. That was Hy: always defining an epic moment with an epic picture.

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