Editorials
In Memory of Walter Plessner: 1918 – 2009
Many stock photo colleagues were saddened to learn of the passing of Walter Plessner last Friday at the age of 91. Mark Ippolito has kindly offered a brief history of his life and his storied career in the stock picture business, which you will find below. To Mark’s words, I’d like to add a few personal comments of my own:
I was grateful to be able to attend Walter’s memorial service this afternoon, and to hear his daughter, Rene’s loving eulogy, which provided more detail about Walter’s life than I had known. I was also glad to hear Walter’s young grandson, Marc, play the piano (which he did beautifully) and delighted in seeing clearly the grandfather’s light in the grandson’s eyes.
Walter left on all those who came in contact with him an indelible impression of sincere generosity of spirit and earnest concern for one’s well-being. This he did despite enduring, early in life, trials that would turn most, justifiably, toward bitterness. In recent years, as his health declined, we communicated only by phone, but he remained sharp and interested in industry news and always asked after my family and always, before saying good-bye, would admonish me in his thick German accent, “Be careful!”
So, with some sadness, but mostly gratitude for having been lucky enough to know him, we add the following from Mark Ippolito:
CF
In Memoriam: Walter Plessner: 1918 – 2009
New York, May 18, 2009: It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Walter Plessner at the age of 91 on Friday, May 15th. Renowned as a photo industry pioneer as a partner in The Three Lions Photo Agency and founder of Plessner International, Plessner created a rich and memorable legacy during his lifetime.
A Holocaust survivor, Plessner fled his native Hamburg, Germany in 1939 to Guatemala, where he lived and worked on a farm and then for the U.S. Army as a civilian employee. In 1945 he immigrated to Los Angeles where he earned his insurance brokers license while also taking business classes at UCLA. He began his career in the finance industry processing credit applications in the Latin American department at Bank of America’s San Francisco office. A contemporary of Otto Bettmann, founder of the Bettmann Archive, Plessner was invited by other fellow refugees who were also drawn to the growing media business in New York City and came to New York to join Three Lions Photo Agency.
Plessner and his partners immediately seized upon their personal and professional networks in Europe, Latin America and Asia to rapidly expand their distribution of images beyond the US setting the course for Plessner’s future career moves. As his partners neared retirement, they decided to sell the Three Lions agency to 4x5 (now known as SuperStock), but Plessner had more plans in store. He launched a new agency, Plessner International, and set about to build upon his worldwide network of contacts to distribute images from partners and photographers in the US and Europe opening up new markets in China, Japan and the Middle East. Not content to merely conduct business via phone and fax, Plessner traveled extensively to meet face to face with clients, agents and photographers to close business and forge new relationships logging thousands of frequent flyer miles annually. Plessner was also a prominent member of the international photo business community serving as an active member in PACA, ASPP and BAPLA.
A voracious reader of international business, technology and financial news, Plessner took great pride in spotting global trends and business opportunities well before his contemporaries. Though well into his 70’s, a time when most executives would have been content to sit on the sidelines, seeing the vast potential for distribution of digital images, Plessner played a key role in licensing the first set of collections that became the early foundation for Bill Gates’ Corbis Corporation all digital archive.
While finally shutting the doors of his Midtown agency in 2004, Plessner, “Herr Doktor” was still receiving partners at his home in Great Neck, NY always grateful to hear the latest industry news and offer advice gained during his expansive career. In May 2007 he lost his wife June and during the last years of his life took great pride in his grandson Marc watching him blossom into a bright student and talented pianist. He is survived by his daughter Renee Plessner, an attorney with Mound Cotton Wollan & Greengrass, and son-in-law, Jeff Fishman.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Walter Plessner can be made to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum or the American Macular Degeneration Foundation.
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