Background
Arthur Rickerby was born on March 15, 1921, in New York, United States. His father died when Rickerby was only a toddler.
Duke University
Pulitzer Prize
(President John F. Kennedy with his wife, Jackie, arriving...)
President John F. Kennedy with his wife, Jackie, arriving at Love Field, on a campaign tour with Vice President Lyndon, on the day of his assassination. (The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)
Arthur Rickerby was born on March 15, 1921, in New York, United States. His father died when Rickerby was only a toddler.
Arthur Rickerby grew up in the Bronx and attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he took up photography in the hopes of pleasing his botany teacher, who was the faculty leader of the club. The photography club was where he developed his affinity for art.
After high school, he attended Duke University, majoring in political science and government. To help pay his way through school, he took photographs of Duke's victorious sports teams and sold them to local papers. Rickerby's photographs were picked up by ACME publishing (later UPI) for their national coverage of Duke University sports, which started his career.
After graduating from Duke, Arthur Rickerby joined the US Navy, serving as Lieutenant, Senior Grade, in Captain Edward Steichen's Navy photography unit in World War II. He photographed the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri. Arthur Rickerby often shot intimate experiences such as at-sea burials and the lives of Japanese prisoners of war in Guam. Rickerby was promoted to Captain before he left the Navy.
When Arthur Rickerby returned to civilian life, he was invited by ACME/UPI to join its staff. Here he covered China's, Japan's, and Germany's post-war redevelopment, among other projects, which included sports events. In 1959, he decided to leave UPI to explore different opportunities as a freelance photographer. His photographs appeared in such notable publications as Sports Illustrated, Sport, and Look, among others. In the 1960s, his photographs appeared in the series "The Face of America" in the Saturday Evening Post.
LIFE magazine hired Arthur Rickerby in 1961 to cover the Kennedy administration. Rickerby photographed John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy in the Oval Office and covered Jacqueline Kennedy's public life, which included her historic trip to India and Pakistan. On the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated, he rode in the President's motorcade. His most famous photograph from the day of the assassination is of the vice president's limousine outside Parkland Hospital; inside the open limousine, Lady Bird Johnson’s abandoned bouquet of roses lay scattered. Rickerby was later assigned to photograph John F. Kennedy's funeral.
In 1972, LIFE magazine ceased weekly publication, and Arthur Rickerby was taken off staff and made a contract photographer. Between 1973 and 1977, LIFE published sporadically, averaging two issues a year. In 1978, it began monthly publication. In the 1970s, Arthur Rickerby continued to shoot contract assignments for LIFE while freelancing for other publications. His last assignments for LIFE magazine were color coverage of Willie Mays's transition from the San Francisco Giants to the New York Mets on May 26, 1972, and photographs of Doug Rader with the Houston Astros on June 16, 1972.
Arthur B. Rickerby died from pancreatitis in 1972. Despite his extensive photojournalism and good reputation at the time of his death, his work was lost in the vacuum of LIFE magazine's collapse.
Fans welcoming Giants star Willie Mays at Polo Grounds
(The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)
Cleveland Browns Vince Costello (#50) wrapping a tackle around Green Bay Packers running back Jim Taylor
(The LIFE Picture Collection © Meredith Corporation)
President John F. Kennedy with his wife, Jackie
(President John F. Kennedy with his wife, Jackie, arriving...)
Arthur Rickerby was married three times, most recently to Wanda A. Rickerby, and had three children: Arthur Jr., Bradford, and David.
Quick to embrace new technologies, Arthur Rickerby managed to take his most famous photograph by pioneering the use of the 35 mm camera and early zoom lens. These innovations helped Rickerby pursue his esthetic of up-close and personal photography. His dedication to a more flexible camera and the pursuit of more natural photojournalism garnered him a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize.