Mr. Lustig was a photojournalist in Washington for 38 years, becoming a member of The Post in 1981 after 15 years at the Washington Star, which ceased publication that 12 months. He lined the Watergate hearings within the Nineteen Seventies for the Star and went on to turn into one of many most-respected and longest-serving members of the Capitol pictures corps.
He photographed many main U.S. political figures from Nineteen Seventies to the early 2000s, together with such Senate leaders as Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), John McCain (R-Ariz.), John W. Warner (R-Va.), Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and — lengthy earlier than he grew to become president — Joe Biden (D-Del.).
One of Mr. Lustig’s favourite political figures was New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D), whose hearings had been “like attending a college course,” Mr. Lustig informed National Journal in 2004.
He used the phrase “patient persistence” to explain how he cultivated relationships with members of Congress and their staffs, constructing a way of belief.
“He had incredible relationships with the leadership of the House and Senate in both parties,” Melina Mara, a Post photographer mentored by Mr. Lustig, mentioned in an interview. “It’s one thing to be a good photographer, but it’s another thing to be a good newsman or newswoman. And he was a good newsman.”
By the time he retired in December 2003, Mr. Lustig was the longest-tenured photographer at the Capitol and was dubbed “dean of the Hill.” Associated Press photographer Dennis Cook described him, in a 2003 article within the Capitol (*83*) publication Roll Call, as “a kind of mediator and spokesman for the photographers.”
In the Nineteen Nineties, a press secretary for Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) tried to shut a listening to to all photographers besides one from the Associated Press. Mr. Lustig organized an impromptu walkout by all of the photographers, together with the AP’s.
“About 10 minutes later Thompson’s press person came chasing up,” Mr. Lustig informed Roll Call, “looking for us to invite us all back in. He said to us, ‘You know, you photographers sure wield a lot of power.’ ”
Mr. Lustig searched to seek out attention-grabbing angles and dramatic moments within the static settings of congressional committee hearings. He additionally had a knack for humanizing his topics, displaying the shadows within the creased faces of senators conferring collectively or the pressure of being barraged by questions. In a rapidly taken shot of Sen.-elect Max Cleland (D-Ga.), who had misplaced three limbs as a soldier in Vietnam, Mr. Lustig widened his lens to create a poignant portrait of the senator in his wheelchair.
At occasions, Mr. Lustig was referred to as on to cowl breaking news occasions, together with the deadly taking pictures of two Capitol Police officers in 1998 and the terrorist assaults of Sept. 11, 2001, as cops raced across the Capitol complicated and staffers sought shelter.
Over the years, Mr. Lustig additionally lined different news tales, together with trend exhibits, sports activities and, in January 1981, the lethal crash of an Air Florida jet within the Potomac River. According to longtime Post colleague Gerald Martineau, Mr. Lustig sprained an ankle whereas leaping over a barrier to {photograph} the rescue operation from the riverbank.
Mr. Lustig often carried one or two cameras on every shoulder and had at least six lenses with him at all occasions. He mastered the geography of the Capitol till he knew all of the hallways, elevators and home windows, with their shafts of pure gentle.
“You have to make lemons into lemonade every day,” he informed Mara, who started with Mr. Lustig in 1998. “If you can do award-winning photography on the Hill, you can shoot anywhere.”
Raymond Joseph Lustig Jr. was born June 1, 1938, in St. Paul, Minn. His father labored for a meals distribution firm, and his mom was a homemaker and mom of six.
After highschool, Mr. Lustig attended a commerce college and labored for an electronics firm in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He took up pictures as a pastime, then attended the University of Minnesota to check photojournalism. He started taking news images within the Twin Cities and labored for newspapers in Fargo, N.D., and Milwaukee earlier than becoming a member of the Washington Star in 1966.
He was keen on cats, vehicles and bikes and sometimes photographed motor racing occasions for magazines. Besides the Star and The Post, his pictures appeared in publications together with Newsweek, Time, Life, People and National Geographic.
Survivors embrace two sisters and a brother.
In 1991, Mr. Lustig received a first-place award from the White House News Photographers Association within the sports activities/motion class for his picture of an exhausted competitor at a Jell-O wrestling match. In an affiliation publication, Mr. Lustig described what drew him to pictures: “I am the eyes of the public who cannot witness the event. It’s my responsibility to show what happened, accurately.”
He added: “You get to share with your subjects the very best moments in their lives and the very worst.”