Born in Brooklyn in 1909, Murray L. Becker was introduced to news photography while working at the New York American as an office boy. One of his jobs was to lug heavy photo equipment for a staff photographer. Observing the photographer at work, Becker decided on his career and worked his way into the ranks of the news photographers. He joined AP in 1929, just a year after General Manage Kent Cooper hired AP’s first photographers. In 43 years with the AP, 32 years of those as chief photographer, Becker supervised coverage of national political conventions, presidential inaugurations, sports events, and was part of the team that developed AP’s space coverage in the early 1960s.
Becker was an innovator, who pioneered the development of overhead and sequence cameras for sports and news coverage. Although he was always looking for ways to improve the equipment, Becker never lost sight of the human element in photography. In 1946 he wrote: “It is no secret that the big secret of a good news photographer – above and beyond basic technical knowledge and the well known speed, tact, diplomacy and determination he must employ – is wrapped up in a single phrase – good timing.”
Becker was a skilled photographer who continued to shoot throughout his years at AP. He mentored many AP photographers and taught photography at the University of North Carolina. In 1970 Becker received the Joseph A. Sprague Award from the National Press Photographers Association. He was cited for “setting the highest standards in equipment, techniques and photographic coverage; for serving not only as a manager but as a lecturer, teacher and advisor to photographers around the world.”
After retiring from the AP in 1972, Becker continued to teach in Florida. He died on March 18, 1986.
On May 6, 1937, Becker was in Lakehurst, NJ to cover the landing of the Hindenburg set to arrive from Germany that evening. The press presence was small as the giant airship was no longer big news, having already made 37 successful trips from Europe to North and South America. Becker was on the landing strip with the ground crew when disaster struck. As the Hindenburg erupted in flames, Becker made four pictures with a 4x5 Speed Graphic in 46 seconds, capturing the initial explosion and the Hindenburg's final fiery crash to earth, start to finish. A motorcycle messenger sped the film to Manhattan for transmission to AP newspapers.
In a 1982 interview, Becker told the Fort Lauderdale News: “I reacted by instinct, but when it was all over, I sat with my back to a hangar and cried about what I had just seen. I can still, to this day, close my eyes and see the thing go up in flames.”
On the cover of the Spring 1957 issue of AP World, Murray Becker is seen handing a Polaroid photo to Cle Emerson for Wirephoto transmission. Becker took the photo from the Polaroid back of his 36-inch Big Bertha camera. The 1957 presidential inauguration was the first time that AP had a Wirephoto transmitter operating on a high stand about 125 feet from the Capitol steps where President Eishenhower took the oath of office, allowing AP to put photos on the wire faster than ever. The bottom half of the page shows an overview of AP’s positions on the platform. The circled photographers are (left to right), Becker, John Rooney and Harry Harris.