Cary WOLINSKY

WOLINSKY, Cary Of Norwell, Massachusetts, a photojournalist and filmmaker, died on June 16 at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth of heart failure. He was 75.

His imagination and aesthetic found expression in the images he made, most notably in the stories he photographed for National Geographic over the course of 35 years. He traveled the world for articles on the Kremlin, Sichuan, the Brain, Color, Poison, Diamonds, among others, as well as a series on textile fibers: Cotton, Wool and Silk. For a story on wool published in 1988, he wanted to show what a season's growth of wool on a sheep looked like. He commissioned a professional sheep shearer in Australia to carefully clip one side of a sheep to create a profile view to make the point. The first half-sheared, lopsided sheep toppled over; subsequent attempts also failed. The 30th sheep was the charm and became the lead shot in the article.

Cary Sol Wolinsky grew up in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, a glass manufacturing town near Pittsburgh, the son of Mayer and Roslyn Wolinsky. His father had been a glider pilot and an avid photographer in Europe in WWII. At the age of 12, Mr. Wolinsky was photographing his hometown and printing the images in his basement darkroom.

Captivated by the challenge of creating an indelible image from a composition of light, shadow and subject, he entered Boston University's photojournalism program in 1965, and covered the Vietnam protests and unrest of that era. While he was still in school, he became the first photographic intern at the Boston Globe. In 1969, he was admitted to the graduate photography program at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute of Design, but instead chose to work for the Boston Globe, before pursuing a freelance career that included shooting for Stern, Smithsonian, and eventually, National Geographic.

Mr. Wolinsky had a gift for turning a complicated, abstract idea into an arresting image and, a rarity in photography, teasing out its humor. In addition to the half-shorn sheep, he photographed a large, ripe strawberry, its seeds meticulously plucked out and replaced with 110 tiny diamonds for a story on that gem.

By his own admission he was a fanatic researcher. For the cotton story in 1994, he read 65 books, relied on 160 contacts, and visited 11 countries.

"Taking a photograph literally describes what is done," he said. "Something is taken. Besides taking their likeness, I take people's time and cooperation." He gave, too. He made friends easily and well on assignment, not to make access easier, but rooted in a genuine interest in the lives of his subjects. Many remained friends long after the assignment was over.

His generosity extended to his peers; he was a fierce advocate for his fellow photographers. "Cary was a leader," recalled David Doubilet, a colleague at National Geographic. It was a role, Doubilet added, that often did not sit well with management.

"It was early in my career at NGS, around 1984," remembered Chris Johns, a photographer who would later be editor in chief of the magazine. "We were in a contentious meeting on fees and rights with [then editor in chief] Bill Graves. Cary represented us. Graves became amped up and went on a rant. Cary was calm and cool. When Graves was finished, he said, 'Why are you so interested in controlling us and not inspiring us?' That calmed Graves down."

After producing 32 features, and 46 short pieces for the magazine, he would turn to filmmaking, when he began collaborating with his son, Yari, in 2008. In 2014, their company, Trillium Studios released Raise the Roof, a documentary about the reconstruction of an 18th century Polish wooden synagogue by a team of students led by artists Rick and Laura Brown. The film, aired on PBS, was featured at more than 100 film festivals. At the time of his death, he was working on a series of documentaries on climate change called Turnaround Film

His later career included a collaboration with performance artists and identical triplets Alicia, Kelly, and Sara Casilio. Known as TRIIIBE, the partnership produced artful photographs that provoke conversations about gender, equality, and identity.

Mr. Wolinsky's work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, and the Natural History Museum, London, among others.

"The light he always looked for, the light that inspired him as an artist, is the light he brought into our lives and into the lives of others," his family said in a message announcing his death.

When asked why he took pictures, Mr. Wolinsky replied that he wanted to inspire a sense of curiosity. "Open your eyes," he said. "There is no end to the world."

He is survived by his wife, Barbara; their son, Yari (Amber Czapranski); his sister Judith Steinbergh (Robert Kroin); brothers-in-law David Emmel, Alfred (Shelley) Emmel, and Richard Emmel; nephews David Steinbergh (Corinna Pringle), Matthew Emmel, Dylan Oesch-Emmel; and nieces Shauna Steinbergh Braum and Jenai Emmel.

The family asks that donations in his name be made to the North and South Rivers Watershed Association. A Celebration of his Life will be held at a later date.