“It was absolute magic…seeing that paper come up in the developer. I loved it”
Loomis Dean, born September 19, 1917 in Monticello Florida, was the son of an artist at the Ringling Museum. In his college years, he studied art at the Ringling Art School, where, as he says, "I proved I could not draw." However it did give him a good foundation in art, particularly in regard to composition and color. Dean then entered University of Florida to study engineering in his brother's footsteps. Although that did not work out, he did meet a student there who was developing photographs in the bathroom. As Dean says, "I saw that first image come up out of that developer and I was hooked." That led him to enroll at the Mechanics Institute in Rochester, NY. There he absorbed a full gamut of photography from a brilliant staff.
Dean's first job in 1938 was advance man and photographer for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was a fun and relatively short career with the circus, but one that left a lasting impression. As Dean says, "Circus people are drenched in their own adrenaline." It is a nomadic existence - fun and exciting, a show to dazzle all ages. Dean's photographs contain many of the same qualities; most seem to be taken with a twinkle in his eye.
After he was married in 1940, he did a four month advertising job in Mexico and then joined the staff of Parade Magazine in New York City. At the outbreak of the war, Dean joined the Army Air Force after he received a commission from Yale. He was based at Wright Field under Colonel George W. Goddard who was in charge of aerial photographic research. Again, he was exposed to a new facet of photography.
At war's end, Dean began to freelance and received assignments from LIFE. On his second LIFE story, characteristically about the circus, Dean made his first LIFE cover. He joined the staff in 1947 and worked out of the Los Angeles bureau for ten years before he was transferred to Paris in 1956. There he stayed for twenty-five years covering Europe and North Africa. One of his more memorable series of photographs was on the Ile de France, approaching the sinking Andrea Doria during that tragic event.
In regards to his work for LIFE, Dean said, "I had an absolutely marvelous experience…I got to see it all and LIFE opened the doors. There's no question about it, we performed and we delivered." When asked in a 1993 interview with John Loengard, "What are you looking for when you take pictures?" Dean responded, "A picture that will run in a magazine. That's the only satisfaction I get out of a picture: seeing it published. And I try to do everything I can do to make it amusing or interesting enough to get published."
Loengard asked, "You think it is worth getting shot for a picture?" "Shot? Hell, no. Well, you learn your way around after a certain length of time. No sense in getting down in the middle of the street and getting in that squabble, because both sides hate you." Dean loves people, especially people doing off-beat things. His stories for LIFE were typical of ski-bums, and beach bums. He loves speed but hates to fly, yet some of his best stories have been shot from airplanes.
In 1965, Dean won the Papal Prize in Rome, Italy. A message came from the Pope, quite unexpectedly, and Dean donned a dark suit and left immediately. Out of 400 contestants, Dean had won first prize in the Vatican's Ecumenical Council Photographic Exhibition. The winning color photograph showed white-robed bishops bearing the Pope's tiara marching in solemn procession through St. Peter's Square. It appeared in LIFE on November 2, 1962.
