Burt Keppler, d. 1/4/2008. Got a sad bit of news this week. Burt passed away last Friday. A family friend and neighbor beginning in 1964, we and his kids all grew up together and attended same schools for the most part. We're still in touch these days. Deepest sympathy to the whole family. Actually I have a few pictures he took of us as children. I'll have to find them. I believe he also advised dad on getting his first camera. I may even still have that old camera. Burt's the first person I knew who had a camera that produced instant photos. He also had a camera that could make 3D images, if I remember correctly. That camera does not seem to have caught on, though.
There's a few articles posted on the web about him and his career:
- Editorial: I called him Burt
- Herbert Keppler, photo industry giant, 82
- In Memoriam: Herbert Keppler, 1925-2008
- Burt Keppler Photo Gallery
- Remembering Herbert Keppler
- NY Times Obit
- Awarded Medal by Japanese Emperor, 2002
Sunday, January 6 2008
Herbert Keppler, photo industry giant, 82 - By Mason Resnick
Herbert Keppler, former publisher of Modern and Popular Photography magazines and one of the most respected and influential figures in the history of the camera industry, died Friday night due to heart failure after a brief illness. He was 82.
Known as Burt by his friends and associates, Keppler was a driving force behind the success of the Japanese camera industry and was instrumental in cleaning up the photo mail order industry during an illustrious career that spanned more than 50 years. During those 50 years, Keppler was the Editor and Publisher of the two largest circulation photography magazines in the world--first Modern Photography, and then Popular Photography.
Starting in the 1950s, Japanese camera quality improved to the point where SLRs made in Japan eclipsed those made in Germany in both features and sales. Much of this success can be traced to Herbert Keppler. A frequent visitor to Japan, Keppler was sought after by all camera and lens manufacturers for his advice, and many popular cameras produced in the second half of the 20th century incorporated designs and features originally suggested by him. Many of these improvements helped change the perception of Japanese products from shoddy to high quality.
Adorama Camera also benefitted from Keppler's design suggestions. Many products that are sold under the Adorama name, such as the Adorama Commander Model Camera & Notebook System Bag, carry design modifications based on Keppler's suggestions.
While at Modern Photography, Herbert Keppler pioneered efforts to police mail order advertisers and, in a unique program run in cooperation with the Attorney General of New York State, refused to run ads from mail order camera dealers who dealt dishonestly with subscribers who ordered from them. Over two million dollars worth of advertising was refused by Modern Photography when the advertisers did not live up to the magazine's strict code of conduct.
Under Keppler's supervision, Modern Photography built the industry's first independent test lab, a state-of-the-art facility. Its tests of lenses and cameras were considered a must-read for anyone considering purchasing camera gear. Popular Photography eventually also built a lab, but Modern's Lab Tests were widely considered to be more comprehensive, precise, and trustworthy. His opinionated column, "SLR Notebook," had a devoted readership.
After over 30 years as the Publisher and Editorial Director of Modern Photography, Keppler was wooed away to the bigger-circulation, arch-rival Popular Photography in 1987; approximately three years later, Modern Photography was bought and shut down by Popular Photography. Keppler upgraded the Popular Photography lab and started a mail order monitoring program similar to the one he successfully started at Modern.
Despite his reputation for technical and design expertise, Keppler was an afficionado of the art of photography, and was active on the board of the International Center of Photography. He fought for generous space for photographs to be published in both Modern and Popular Photography when budget cuts were limiting publication of photographic portfolios. Among his friends were such luminaries as Ansel Adams, Roman Vishniak, Henri Cartier-Bresson, David Douglas-Duncan, and many others.
Keppler worked continuously at Popular Photography, and continued to commute from his home in Croton-On-Hudson into his office in New York City until late November.
Herbert Keppler is survived by his wife, Louise, and his children, Tom and Kathy. He will be missed by all of us at Adorama.
© 2008 Adorama
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