Earle Bunker
{{Short description|American photographer}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Earl_Bunker.png
| caption = Earle Bunker (1944)
| birth_name = Earle Lawrence Bunker
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1912|09|04}}
| birth_place = Bridgewater, South Dakota US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|01|29|1912|09|04}}
| death_place = Omaha, Nebraska US
| other_names = Buddy
| occupation = Photographer
| years_active =
| employer = Omaha World-Herald
| known_for = 1944 Pulitzer Prize for Photography
| notable_works = Homecoming
| spouse = Helen Morrison
| children = 1
}}
Earle L. "Buddy" Bunker (September 4, 1912 – January 29, 1975) was an American photographer for the Omaha World-Herald and one of the two winners of the 1944 Pulitzer Prize for Photography. Bunker won the Pulitzer for his photograph which he titled Homecoming.
Early life
He was born on September 4, 1912, and his mother was Doris.{{cite book |last1=Brennan |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Clarage |first2=Elizabeth C. |title=Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners |date=1999 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |location=London, England |isbn=978-1-57356-111-2 |page=497 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A7gYAAAAIAAJ&q=Earle+Buddy+Bunker |access-date=6 January 2024 |language=en}} He was born in Bridgewater, South Dakota, but moved to Omaha, Nebraska. In 1929 when he was 17-years-old he started working for the Omaha Bee-News.{{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Heinz-Dietrich |title=Key Images of American Life: Pulitzer Prize Winning Pictures |date=2015 |publisher=LIT Verlag Münster |location=Berlin, Germany |isbn=978-3-643-90518-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wu_SBAAAQBAJ&dq=Bunker+Lieutenant+Colonel+Robert+Moore&pg=PA38 |access-date=6 January 2024 |language=en}} He was described as "diminutive", his height was roughly {{cvt|5|ft}} and he weighed approximately {{cvt|110|lbs}}.
Career
File:Homecoming by Earle Bunker.jpg"]]
In 1937, the Bee ceased publication when William Randolph Hearst sold it to the Omaha World-Herald. Bunker spent the rest of his career with the World-Herald.{{cite book|author1=Elizabeth A. Brennan|author2=Elizabeth C. Clarage|title=Who's who of Pulitzer Prize winners|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=63nvmt4HqTEC&pg=PA497|accessdate=24 February 2012|year=1999|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-57356-111-2|page=497}} He was known to carry a 9-pound Speed Graphic camera with a large bulb attachment.{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Sheritha |title=Back in the day, July 15, 1943: The World-Herald's Earle Bunker snaps Pulitzer Prize-winning photo |url=https://omaha.com/news/local/history/back-in-the-day-july-15-1943-the-world-heralds-earle-bunker-snaps-pulitzer-prize/article_16ebe580-021a-11ed-88fa-332685038da9.html |access-date=December 28, 2023 |work=Omaha World-Herald |publisher=Omaha World-Herald |date=July 15, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718103506/https://omaha.com/news/local/history/back-in-the-day-july-15-1943-the-world-heralds-earle-bunker-snaps-pulitzer-prize/article_16ebe580-021a-11ed-88fa-332685038da9.html |url-status=live }}
Bunker won the 1944 Pulitzer for his 1943 photograph entitled "Homecoming". The image captured a World War II soldier who has returned home by train, and the moment that he greets his family. The soldier in the image, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moore, had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for leading his battalion against Erwin Rommel's Panzers in North Africa. He had been away from his family for sixteen months. Bunker waited over twenty-four hours for Moore's train to reach the station in Villisca, Iowa, so he could take the photograph.{{cite book | title=Moments: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Photographs | publisher=Tess Press | author=Buell, Hal | year=2010 | location=New York | pages=18 | isbn=978-1-60376-210-6}}{{cite news |title=World-Herald Photographer Bunker Wins Pulitzer Prize |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/omaha-world-herald-world-herald-photogra/136239440/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=Omaha World-Herald |publisher=Omaha World-Herald |date=2 May 1944 |pages=1 |language=en}}
When he was notified that his photograph had won the Pulitzer Prize he said, "Boy wait until I sit down. I'm very happy, very happy."{{cite news |title=Earle L. Bunker |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-earle-l-buddy/138181879/ |access-date=6 January 2024 |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |date=2 May 1944 |pages=11}}
Personal life
He was married to Helen née Morrison and together they had a daughter. While at home on January 29, 1975, he died of a heart attack.{{cite news |title=Buddy Bunker, 62, Is Dead; Photographer Won Pulitzer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/30/archives/buddy-bunker-62-is-dead-photographer-won-pulitzer.html |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=30 January 1975}}{{cite news |title=Cameraman Bunker Dies at 63; Got Pulitzer Prize |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/omaha-world-herald-obituary-for-earle-l/138045864/ |access-date=4 January 2024 |work=Omaha World-Herald |date=29 January 1975 |pages=58}}
References
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{{Pulitzer Prize}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunker, Earle L.}}
Category:20th-century American photographers