Don Ultang, an early specialist in aerial photography died on Sept. 18 in Iowa, where he lived. He was 91.
In 1952, Ultang and fellow photographer John Robinson were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for a series of images showing a violent on-field assault against an African-American player during an American college football game. The event came to be known as the Johnny Bright Incident.
Donald Theodore Ultang graduated from the University of Iowa in 1939 with a degree in economics. As he was interested in photography, he was hired by an Iowa newspaper and shortly thereafter decided to learn to fly, signing up for a government-financed civilian pilot program.
Ultang joined the Navy during World War II and served as a flight instructor.
On his return, he persuaded the Iowa newspaper to buy a Beechcraft Bonanza plane for editorial use, like aerial photography.
He flew the airplane and took pictures while flying. He let go of the controls for about 5 seconds to shoot with a heavy Speed Graphix camera, before circling around for another take, often just a few hundred feet above the ground, keeping about 20 miles per hour extra air speed.
Many of his pictures were collected in "Holding the Moment: Mid-America at Mid-Century" (Iowa State Press, 1991).
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