HAMILTON - Charlie Israel, 80, of Hamilton passed away on April 6,
2014, of congestive heart failure.
Charlie was born May 15, 1933 in New York City. He grew up in the
Bronx with his two older brothers, Eddie and Phil. They were the sons
of Rae (Levine) and Martin Israel. As a boy living in New York City,
life was full of exciting and remarkable adventures; going to Broadway
shows with his parents and to museums, art galleries and the Bronx Zoo
with his mother. He lived in a neighborhood of Irish, Italian and
Jewish second generation immigrants. His own family background was of
Russian Jewish ancestors. Eddie gave him his first camera when he was
11 years old. He made use of the family bathroom in their brownstone
apartment, developing film in a Folgers coffee can. He discovered that
he was good at photography and over the years he became intrigued with
photography as an art form.
After World War II was over he and his parents left New York City and
joined his brothers who had settled in Los Angeles. Charlie attended
and graduated from John Marshall High School in L.A.
After high school graduation he enrolled in L.A. Trade Tech taking
only photography classes. His attendance there lasted only a few
months because Uncle Sam came calling and he was drafted into the
Army. He was 18 1/2 years old.
After boot camp at Fort Ord he embarked on a troop ship to Korea. Then
after a few short weeks digging holes and climbing telephone poles he
was transferred to a 13-man photo unit with the I Corps Division
headquartered at Uijeongbu within the DMZ. Being a combat photographer
saw him in the thick of things and many times his position was overrun
by the North Koreans. On two separate occasions he barely escaped. At
other times he was attached to General Maxwell Taylor or General Mark
Clark when the generals came to visit the front lines. Charlie was
present at the Welcome Gate at Pannmunjom for the prisoner of war
exchange and photographed this historic event. Many of his photos
taken during the Korean War were featured in the Army newspaper, "The
Stars and Stripes." Two years in the Army and 19 months in a combat
zone changed Charlie forever. Upon his discharge in 1953, he returned
to his family in Los Angeles.
Once back home he apprenticed with a mural maker in L.A. and then
worked for an L.A. commercial photographer as a darkroom assistant. He
also resumed his photographic studies. After several years her met and
married his first wife, Frances and his son Jeff was born in 1959 and
later his daughter, Marla, in 1963. Because he had a young family to
support, photography became an abiding passion and not his way to make
a living. Charlie followed his brother's footsteps and went into the
furniture business. His brother, Phil, owned a furniture factory and
Charlie became a furniture manufacturer's rep. For the next 35 years
this was his profession; selling furniture to stores located in Los
Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
In 1973 Charlie and Frances divorced. Charlie moved to Garden Grove,
Calif. It was at this time that he made a major investment with the
purchase of a Hasselblad Camera, turning his apartment's master
bathroom into a darkroom. With this large format camera (2 1/4 " x 2 1/4 "
negative), he began haunting the streets of L.A., looking for the
unusual and shooting photos and printing them in his bathroom.
In 1967 Charlie had met Ansel Adams at Cypress Junior College while a
teacher's assistant at a photography class there. Ansel looked at his
work and said, "You are a great street photographer kid, keep it up."
And "keep it up" he did.
In 1977 on a Friday the 13th, Charlie looked across a crowded dance
floor at the Newporter Inn in Newport Beach, Calif. and saw Jean for
the first time. They spent the evening dancing and lots of laughing.
After that night they became inseparable. They were a perfect fit for
the next 37 years. Charlie and Jean traveled all over California and
the Pacific Northwest and Western States shooting photographs and fly
fishing big rivers and small streams. Jean became his biggest fan,
encouraging him in all of his photo endeavors and expeditions while
usually out fishing him. He still maintained his livelihood as a
furniture rep., but he always had his camera by his side taking
photos. He and Jean searched the streets of L.A. and the surrounding
areas doing the street photography that he loved. He would shoot
photographs because he saw the art or story through the lens of his
camera. He was intrigued with everything around him and wanted to
capture what he saw on film whether it was the street life of L.A. or
a magnificent landscape while traveling.
In 1982, he and Jean married in Whittier, Calif. and he became a
step-father to Jean's two daughters, Sarah and Dana. In 1984, Charlie
began showing his photos at art shows and in galleries, including the
Laguna Beach Art Festival, the Hillcrest Art Festival, The Spiritus
Gallery in Newport Beach, Calif., and the Weston Gallery in Carmel,
Calif.
Charlie always believed that you are never too old to increase your
knowledge and so at the age of 52, he enrolled in a Masters program at
the Newport School of Photography. Soon, he and Al Belson, the
school's founder and director, became close friends. These master
classes served to increase his already vast knowledge of fine art
black and white printing.
After many fly fishing trips to Montana, he settled down in Hamilton
with Jean, purchasing a home on South Fifth Street in 1990. Charlie
went to work for Lee Enterprises and the Missoulian, opening an office
for the Bitterroot View in the Signal Square. Then in 1991, Charlie
opened up a custom photo lab and studio in his South Fifth Street
home. He called his business The Image Maker. He turned his camera on
the magnificent beauty and history of Montana, almost always
photographing in black and white. He discovered an unfilled need in
the Bitterroot Valley and began restoring and copying old family
photos for clients. Clients would bring him Tintypes, Daguerreotypes,
Ambrotypes and glass plates for copying and restoration. He printed
the Bertie Lord Collection for the Ravalli County Museum. Old
historical photographs of the valley, which he printed, hang today on
the walls of several Farmers State Bank branches. Charlie not only
loved photography and darkroom printing, he loved teaching it to his
students as well. Dozens of students showed up on his darkroom
doorstep. He loved sharing his photographic knowledge and was always
very patient in teaching his students these skills.
In 2007, his health began failing him and he had to close The Image
Maker. He missed all the joyous occasions of photographing weddings,
family reunions and portraits, as well as teaching students. But, he
continued printing his own fine art photography from his thousands of
negatives.
Charlie always said that black and white photography is like painting
with light. For him, the art of photography is not just in taking the
shot and recording the scene, but bringing that scene forth in the
darkroom to equal what he saw through the lens and to bring the
fullest potential of that image to life for everyone else to see; thus
painting with light. He never went digital; that was not art to him.
It was just picture taking. He was a photographic artist and not a
picture taker. The walls of his home are filled with his photographs
and friends and clients have his photos hanging on their walls too.
Charlie's brother, Eddie and Phil, preceded him in death, as well as
his mother and father. He is survived by his wife, Jean Israel of
Hamilton; his son, Jeff (Marianne) Israel and three granddaughters of
Garden Grove, Calif.; his daughter, Marla Israel of Long Beach,
Calif.; two step-daughters, Dana Canfield of La Habra, Calif. and
Sarah (Bruce) Barker of North Hollywood, Calif.; his much loved
grandson, Michael (Devon) Sportsman of Oceanside, Calif.; and one
great-granddaughter.
Charlie had an enormous passion for life. He was full of piss and
vinegar, knew no strangers and was an unforgettable character. He had
a quick wit and an outrageous sense of humor and if you heard laughing
in his vicinity, you could bet he was in the middle of it and causing
trouble. His friends and family can all tell "Charlie" stories and
tell them we will when we gather to celebrate his life and his talent
as an artist and to remember him.
Charlie never wanted anything to do with funerals. He will be buried
at the Western Montana Veterans Cemetery in Missoula. Arrangements
have been made by the Daly-Leach Chapel. Donations in his memory can
be made to the MAPS program or to the arts program of any valley high
school or to the Wounded Warriors program. We will all miss him
greatly.
We invite you to join his family in remembering him and celebrating
his life at the family home this summer when the weather is beautiful.
The date and time will be announced in this paper. Condolences may be
left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com.
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