1624-14 Clubs Ray Fisher-Career Narrative, Page No.1
Ray Fisher 10700 SW 72 Court
Career Narrative Miami, FL 33156-3820
TEL: (305) 665-7659
FAX: (305) 665-8668
Ray has been one of the most active photographers in the South, especially in Florida. Over the
years he has photographed countless and varied assignments for TIME Magazine and most of the
weekly and monthly publications on the nation's newsstands such as FORBES, Sports Illustrated and
The New York Times among many others.
For TIME Magazine he was in Cuba several times including coverage of the exodus of 125,000
Cubans during the Mariel Boatlift; he also had six full pages of color photos of the opening of Disney
World. For FORBES Magazine he was responsible for one of their rare full color large picture stories:
this one being on the training camp of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ray has also been on numerous
assignments for all three major TV networks plus HBO taking pictures for use in advertising, promotion
and publicity.
Another aspect has been his assignments from major corporations for their Annual Reports,
advertising, brochures and periodicals such as I.B.M.; Texaco, Gulf Oil, W.R. Grace Co., Knight-Ridder
and The Equitable Life Assurance Co. as well as many regional corporations.
However, Ray's one great love has been the photographing of personalities. Beside theatrical
greats, he has had before his camera personages as varied as royalty, Queen Elizabeth, to Nobel
Prize winners, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Academy Award winners, Elizabeth Taylor and George C.
Scott. He has photographed celebrities ever since the time when as a young boy he sneaked into the
dressing room of boxer Joe Louis after he won his title against Arturo Godoy.
To date he has had well over 1000 famous people in front of his camera and he is still counting.
Ray grew up in New York and moved to Miami in 1940. Before graduating Miami Beach High
School, he went to work for NBC in New York in their photo department. After graduation he served
as a combat photographer in Europe during World War II being assigned to General Omar Bradley's
12th Army Group headquarters. He photographed General Patton's Third Army, during their advance
through Germany. When Patton's Army crossed the Danube River, he photographed the General
taking pictures with his liberated Contax Camera. Near the war's end he was awarded the Purple Heart
for being wounded in action.
Ray also received a special commendation "for Exceptionally Meritorious Service" from the U.S.
Army for his "foresight and tireless enthusiasm ... in overcoming many obstacles" in being responsible
for the return of the stained glass windows to the Strasbourg Cathedral in France.
After graduation from the University of Miami with a BA in Communications where he was active
in editorial capacities on all of their prize winning school publications, including serving as Editor of the
University's Magazine, TEMPO, he turned down an offer from LIFE Magazine to join the staff as a
reporter, and chose to stay in Miami as a photographer. He joined the Miami Herald photo staff, where
he introduced the use of 35mm cameras in 1953, now the mainstay of all photographers, buying the
film out of his own money, to convince the editors that it was feasible for good reproduction, and
eventually became Chief Photographer and then Picture Editor. After 16 years Ray resigned to go into
business for himself taking pictures for his own clients.
Ray Fisher-Career Narrative, Page No.2
Among Ray's many awards are: Outstanding Graduate of the School of Communications at the
University of Miami, Wilson Hicks Visual Communications Award, J.C. Penney/Missouri Journalism
Award in Photography, LIFE, LOOK, Popular Photography, National Press Photographer's Association,
Sigma Delta Chi, Associated Press and the prestigious New York Art Directors and was a member of
the board that founded the New World School of the Arts in Miami.
Ray gives illustrated lectures about his photographs and varied experiences featuring hundreds
of celebrities, and conducts seminars in photojournalism. He has been a guest lecturer and teacher
at the University of Miami, the Southeast Center for Photo/Graphic Studies at Daytona Beach
Community College and in New York City at the International Center of Photography, The Players Club,
National Arts Club, The Circle of Confusion (one of the oldest photographic organizations in the U.S.),
Photo-Expo 1992 New York seminar, FotoFusion '97 in Delray Beach, Florida and the New York based
Photographic Administrators, among many others.
Starting in 1996 he has been called upon by major corporations at their convention meetings to
be an after dinner'speaker' presenting his varied personality photographs while the audience become
participants trying to guess who the personalities are being shown on screen.
Ray's photographs are included in many private and corporate collections such as the
International Center of Photography in NY, Theater Collection of the Museum of the City of New York,
Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FI, Miami/Dade Main Library, The Historical
Museum of South Florida, Howard Greenberg of New York, The Shubert Organization in New York,
The Bass Museum of Miami Beach, Indiana Historical Society, the Jewish Museum, New York, and
The Buhl Collection, New York.
Lincoln Center honored Ray with an exhibition of his work "Focusing on the Performing Arts"
which hung for 3 months during the fall/winter season of 1988/89 in their Amsterdam Gallery. It was
the largest photographic exhibition ever mounted by Lincoln Center.
During 1985-86, 21 of Ray's unposed celebrity portrait photographs were featured in an exhibition
which was extended for five months at the Museum of the City of New York entitled "Saving Faces".
Also that same year he had an exhibit at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts in Miami entitled
"On Stage in Miami" which included 50 photographs of famous personalities on stage in South Florida.
During 1986-87 Ray had two major shows: "Famous Faces" at the Milton Weill Art Gallery at the
92nd Street Y in New York and "Hollywood Stars in Miami 1948-1985" at the Barbara Gillman Gallery
in Miami and Tampa.
In 1987 his works were featured in his exhibition "Authors and Photographers" at the Overseas
Press Club in New York, at The Center for the Fine Arts in Miami called, "Contemporary American
Figurative Photography" and at the Milton Weill Gallery at the 92nd Street Y in New York, with the New
York Jazz Festival, an exhibition of black and white photographs of"Jazz Greats".
In 1987 the book "Broadway By The Bay" about the Coconut Grove Playhouse was illustrated
exclusively with Ray's photos of over 25 actors and entertainers who appeared there on stage.
In 1991 Ray's photograph of trumpeter Louis Armstrong was one of 181 photographs out of a
submission of 13,000, published in ASMP's "10,000 EYES", which celebrates the 150th Anniversary
of Photography.
In 1993 Ray was commissioned by Art in Public Places in Miami to photograph one of their art
works for their 20th Anniversary.
Ray Fisher-Career Narrative, Page No.3
In 1994 he had a major retrospective of his celebrity photographs at the Miami/Dade Main Library,
which were shown at the 292 Gallery and The Howard Greenberg Gallery both located in New York.
In 1996 he had a major exhibition in conjunction with the Miami Centennial, "Miami Movers &
Shakers by Ray Fisher" at the Historical Museum of South Florida. It featured photographs of over 100
people who have affected Miami in the past 50 years that Ray photographed. That same year he was
included in a group photo exhibition at the Greenberg Gallery, New York, "Dance in America".
In 1997 he had an exhibition at the International Center of Photography in New York in their
permanent collection exhibit hall. In conjunction with the ICP exhibit, there was a simultaneous exhibit
of his personality photos at the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York.
In 1998, he started the year with an invitation to show his fashion photographs in an exhibition
at the Bass Museum on Miami Beach, which was a traveling exhibit throughout the United States. The
exhibit was of fashion photos taken in Florida, "Fashion at the Beach".
During the year 2000, several TV networks, Lifetime, E!, A&E and ABC, featured shows that had
biographies of well known personalities. They used Ray's photographs to illustrate their programs.
In 2001 he completed a photo exhibit for the 50th anniversary celebration of the University of
Miami's Ring Theater, depicting the early days of the Ring's creation.
One thing that is unique in all of Ray Fisher's photographs is that they are mostly unstaged,
unposed and spontaneous. They are taken out of the atmosphere of studio environments, usually on
locations that are more natural to the subjects.
His extensive collection has over 1 million Black & White negatives and color slides which are
cross indexed and completely retrievable.
Ray is still active with various assignments and has been able to do his lectures and exhibitions
during the past few years by juggling his assignments.
He is married for a long time to the former Suzanne Dubois who watches over his business
affairs, his assignments and his bow ties. They have three children, two sons and a daughter, and
three grandchildren.
You can recognize Ray by the Red Bow Tie he always wears from his collection of well over 400
that he ties by himself daily.
For More Information contact Sue Fisher at:
Tel: 305-665-7659 Fax: 305-665-8668