Reed, Russell

May 21, 1922 - May 15, 1992

Reed, a former Oakland Tribune photographer known for his aerial pictures, died Friday May 15, 1992 in Walnut Creek, Calif., of kidney failure. He was 69. He was a staff photographer for the Oakland Tribune from 1946 to 1983. He shot spectacular photos of fires, earthquake damage, floods and other disasters from the air. Alex Haley, author of Roots, once wrote an article about Reed titled, Newsman on the Run. In 1948 Reed won a first-place prize from the National Press Photographers Association for best news picture. Reed also won the sports photograph of the year award from Life Magazine in 1952 of the Stock car pile up at the Oakland Speedway.Photographer Russell Reed won a number of national awards for the Oakland Tribune and served on its staff for more than forty years. The Bay Area newspaper had emphasized photojournalism beginning in 1905 with its hiring of Jack Gunin, who was probably the West's first full-time news photographer. In 1995 the paper, founded in 1874, donated its photo "morgue" to the Oakland Museum of California.