Nat Fein

{{Short description|American photographer (1914–2000)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Nathaniel Fein | image = Nathaniel Fein.png | imagesize = | caption = Nat Fein, 2000 | birth_name = Nathaniel Fein | birth_date = August 7, 1914 | birth_place = Manhattan, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2000|9|26|1914|8|7}} | death_place = Westwood, New Jersey, U.S. | other_names = Nat | occupation = Photographer | years_active = 1933–1966 | employer = ''New York Herald Tribune'' | known_for = 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Photography | notable_works = ''Babe Ruth Bows Out'' | spouse = Lois Fein | children = David Fein | education = | alma_mater = }}

'''Nathaniel Fein''' (August 7, 1914 – September 26, 2000) was a photographer for the ''New York Herald Tribune'' for 33 years. He was an only child and he grew up in Manhattan New York. During the Great Depression in the United States his father left and he was raised by his mother Frances.

Fein was known for taking human-interest photos, but he did take a photograph of Babe Ruth at the occasion of Ruth's number retirement ceremony in 1948. Fein received the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for the photograph which he titled, ''Babe Ruth Bows Out''. Fein was married to his wife Lois and together they had one child named David.

==Early life==

[[File:Babe Ruth Bows Out.jpg|thumb|''Babe Ruth Bows Out'', 1948]]

Fein was born August 7, 1914 to Jewish-Russian immigrants and he was raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. His father Hyman Fein was a Vaudeville actor who left him and his mother Francis during the Great Depression in the United States. His mother worked in the garment district as a seamstress. He graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1932. In 1933 he began working as a copy boy for the ''New York Herald Tribune''.<ref name="Nieves">{{cite news |last1=Nieves |first1=David |title=Who was Nat Fein? |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-news-who-was-nat-fein/13424944/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=The Journal News |date=2 February 2009 |pages=4}}</ref> During World War II Fein served as an Army Air Force photographer.<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/sports/nat-fein-86-pulitzer-winner-for-picture-of-ruth-s-final-bow.html| title=Nat Fein, 86, Pulitzer Winner For Picture of Ruth's Final Bow| author=Goldstein, Richard| date=September 29, 2000| newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=February 19, 2017| archive-date=March 2, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302183131/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/29/sports/nat-fein-86-pulitzer-winner-for-picture-of-ruth-s-final-bow.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Pitoniak">{{cite web |last1=Pitoniak |first1=Scott |title=Back to Babe: The Nat Fein photo {{!}} Baseball Hall of Fame |url=https://baseballhall.org/discover/Back-to-Babe#:~:text=An%20only%20child%20of%20Jewish,%2C%20Frances%2C%20in%20the%20lurch. |website=baseballhall.org |publisher=National Baseball Hall of Fame |access-date=3 January 2024 |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103212832/https://baseballhall.org/discover/Back-to-Babe#:~:text=An%20only%20child%20of%20Jewish,%2C%20Frances%2C%20in%20the%20lurch. |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Career== In 1936 Fein was hired as a full-time photographer.<ref name="Pitoniak"/> He was a staff photographer at the ''New York Herald Tribune'' and he worked for the newspaper until 1966 when the paper ended.<ref name=NYTobit/> On June 13, 1948, Fein took his most well-known photograph, ''Babe Ruth Bows Out'', which was awarded the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Photography.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/exhibits/pulitzer/text/h1949.html |title=The Pulitzer Prize Photographs @ NCSU Libraries, 2003 |access-date=2010-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316062338/http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/exhibits/pulitzer/text/h1949.html |archive-date=2012-03-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He referred to himself as a person who took human-interest photographs and he was not normally a sports photographer. On the day he captured the Pulitzer prize winning photograph Fein was filling in for a photographer who had called in sick.<ref name="Pitoniak"/>

He used a Speed Graphic camera to capture images.<ref name=NYTobit/> In his career he took over 50,000 photographs. He photographed Albert Einstein, John F. Kennedy and Queen Elizabeth.<ref name="Pitoniak"/>

==Personal life==

After the ''New York Herald Tribune'' went out of business Fein went to work as a corporate photographer. From 1968 to 1980 he worked for Orange and Rockland Utilities.<ref name="Baird">{{cite news |last1=Baird |first1=Bob |title=Film Glimpses Nat Fein |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-journal-news-nat-fein/7327635/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |work=The Journal News |publisher=The Journal News |date=9 October 2011 |pages=3}}</ref> He lived in Tappan, New York with his wife Lois and his son David.<ref name="Nieves"/> Fein died on September 26, 2000, at the age of 86.<ref name=NYTobit/>

In 2008, author David Nieves wrote a book about Fein titled: ''The Fein Story Behind the Pictures: A Revealing Look at the Famous Images of Pulitzer Prize Photographer Nat Fein''.<ref name="Nievesbook">{{cite book |last1=Nieves |first1=David |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3-4XMQAACAAJ |title=The Fein Story Behind the Pictures: A Revealing Look at the Famous Images of Pulitzer Prize Photographer Nat Fein |date=2008 |publisher=Nat Fein Collection Incorporated |isbn=978-0-9820943-0-3 |location=New York, New York |language=en |access-date=3 January 2024}}</ref> Fein's life was the subject of a 2013 documentary titled, ''Nat Fein: A Talent for Living''. Filmmakers Frank and Catherine LoBuono used the Fein images from Fein's career to create the documentary.<ref name="Baird"/>

== References == {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyMKI8yufOA Documentary: ''Nat Fein: A Talent for Living''] *[https://www.mlb.com/video/babe-ruth-s-no-3-is-retired-c796957983 MLB video: Babe Ruth's No 3 is retired]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fein, Nat}} Category:1914 births Category:20th-century American photographers Category:American portrait photographers Category:2000 deaths Category:Pulitzer Prize for Photography winners Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:People from Tappan, New York Category:20th-century American Jews