Ron Tarver facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ron Tarver
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Ronald (Ron) Tarver (born in 1957) is an American artist and educator. He is famous for his amazing photographs. He was the first Black photographer to work at the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper.
Ron Tarver also worked at the Springfield News-Leader in Missouri from 1980 to 1983. After that, he joined The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper. He worked there for over 30 years, from 1983 to 2014. Today, Tarver teaches photography as a professor at Swarthmore College.
Some of his most important projects include a book called The Long Ride Home: Black Cowboys in America (2024). This book is about the history and lives of Black cowboys across the United States. He also worked on the book We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans (2004) with writer Yvonne Latty. In 2012, Ron Tarver was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. They won for their reporting on violence in Philadelphia schools.
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Early Life and Photography Career
Ron Tarver was born in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. His love for photography started early. His father was a keen photographer. He took many pictures of the Black community in Fort Gibson. This inspired Ron to pick up a camera too.
Tarver studied at Northeastern State University. After graduating, he became the first Black photographer at the Muskogee Phoenix. In 1980, he moved to Missouri. He worked at the Springfield News-Leader until 1983.
That same year, he started working at The Philadelphia Inquirer. He spent 32 years there. His work covered many different topics. He took photos of the aftermath of war in Beirut. He also photographed conflicts within the Catholic church in Ireland.
Documenting Veterans and School Issues
In 2002, Tarver photographed 28 African-American veterans. These photos were for the book We Were There: Voices of African American Veterans. The book shared stories from World War II to the War in Iraq. It was published in 2004 and shown at the National Constitution Center.
In 2012, Tarver was part of a special team at the Inquirer. They looked into violence in Philadelphia public schools. Their important work helped them win a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
New Projects and Exhibitions
Tarver left the Inquirer in 2014. He then went to the University of the Arts to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree. At the same time, he began teaching photography at Swarthmore College.
During this period, he started a project called An Overdue Conversation with My Father. For this, he used and reimagined photos his father took in Oklahoma in the 1940s and 1950s.
His project The Long Ride Home shows images of Black cowboys. Some of these photos were shown in 2016. They were part of the Black Cowboy exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem. Important newspapers and magazines have written about his work. These include The New York Times and The New Yorker.
Ron Tarver's photographs have been shown in over 30 solo exhibitions. They have also been part of more than 50 group shows. His work is in many collections. These include the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He also gives talks at places like The Barnes Foundation.
Awards and Recognition
Ron Tarver has received many awards for his photography.
- 2021: Guggenheim Fellowship for photography.
- 2007 and 2019: Independence Foundation Fellowship.
- 2012: Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (as part of a team).
- 2001: Pew Fellowship in the Arts.
- 1994: National Geographic Magazine, Development Grant for Documentary Photography.
- 1993: Sigma Delta Chi Award of the Society of Professional Journalists.
- 1993: World Press Photo, Third Prize for Daily Life.
