Bob Gomel Day
WHEREAS, Houstonian Bob Gomel has dedicated
eight decades to the advancement of American photojournalism and imagery of
world cultures; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel’s love of photography
began in his youth in New York City, continued with his graduation from New
York University with a journalism degree, through his service abroad as a U.S.
Navy Aviator, and into his emergence as a professional photographer; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel captured the triumphs and
tragedies of the 1960s as a photographer for LIFE magazine, making iconic
and innovative images of world leaders and events, athletes and entertainers,
and great moments in contemporary history; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel’s notable LIFE assignments
included photographing President John F. Kennedy’s historic “We Choose to Go tothe Moon” speech at Rice University on September 12, 1962; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel moved to Houston in the
1970s and opened a photography studio where he produced images of leading
political, business, academic and medical figures, and he helped co-found the
Houston chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel’s famous 1997 photograph,
“Fireworks Over Houston,” is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine
Arts, Houston; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel is the subject of the
documentary Bob Gomel: Eyewitness directed by David Scarbrough, and
Gomel’s work remains of interest to historians, news organizations and
collectors around the nation; and
WHEREAS, Bob Gomel’s contemporary photography
emphasizes world cultures and life abroad and includes images from Asia, Europe
and The Americas; and
THEREFORE, I, John Whitmire, Mayor of the City of Houston, do hereby proclaim April 23 2024, as Bob Gomel Day In Houston, Texas
Bob Gomel's photographs are featured in the current exhibition 1964
