“A good photojournalist goes into any situation prepared to find out something, at least one key thing, about the topic you’re going to cover and just as importantly you make friends. You make friends with everybody wherever you go because you never know who you’ll need to go back there for one more picture or to follow up on a story.”
~ Ralph Morse
(1917-2013)
‘“If LIFE could afford only one photographer, it would have to be Ralph Morse.”
~ George Hunt, Former managing editor LIFE
Ralph was a self-made man, starting out by sweeping floors and working as a lowly assistant.
At only 24 years old, he became the youngest war correspondent when LIFE hired him full-time in 1942 and sent him to the Pacific Theater of World War II. He was beloved by everyone who worked with him.
This is one of his gem images: a man holding his release stance as he watches himself achieve a strike. It requires strength, coordination, and genuine technique to land a convincing, resounding, unmistakable strike—and Ralph captured it perfectly that day, full of force and energy.