Pioneer of gem photography Harold Van Pelt—“Van” to his friends and colleagues—passed away at the age of 100 (figure 1). Over three decades, he and his wife, Erica, contributed hundreds of photographs—including 93 covers—to Gems & Gemology.
Born in Paola, Kansas, Van graduated from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, in 1953. After he and Erica married in the early 1960s, they made a good living photographing commercial furniture. Since this work was seasonal, they used their downtime to visit Europe, Africa, and Asia. Shooting thousands of photographs in museums during their travels, they became attracted to minerals and ultimately gems. By the late 1960s and early ’70s, they began attending the Tucson gem and mineral shows, soon photographing major gem crystals and, inevitably, fashioned gems.
In 1981, when G&G transitioned to a larger, full-color format with an expanded editorial review board, the Van Pelts played a pivotal role in the journal’s growing acceptance by both the gem industry and the scientific community. Their first cover, the 217.8 ct Mogul emerald featured on the Summer 1981 issue (figure 2, left), and the many superb images they provided for Peter Keller’s landmark article on Colombian emeralds in that issue, demonstrated that a scientific article could be beautiful and substantive at the same time.
While the Van Pelts published gem and mineral photos in numerous books and magazines during their career, their collaboration with G&G is one of their longest and, perhaps, most demanding professional relationships. Unlike images produced today, where gems are photographed individually and then composited into a single picture, they photographed multiple gems in a single shot. Their attention to lighting and color typically required many hours of setup for a single 8 × 10 transparency. Readers often commented that the accuracy of their color was unmatched in the field (figure 2, right).
More than a gifted photographer, Van was also an accomplished gem carver. Inspired by the museum collections seen during their world travels, he fashioned large pieces of rock crystal, agate, and other gem materials into exquisite objects that have been displayed at museums in the United States and Germany (figure 3). Using machinery he made or modified, he carved hundreds of items over 60-plus years.
We share our heartfelt condolences with Erica and Van’s extended family, friends, and colleagues. May Van’s legacy live on in the many extraordinary photos he and Erica produced—and in the beautiful objects he created—with skill, patience, and the eye of a true artist.
Alice Keller is Editor-in-Chief Emerita of Gems & Gemology. Dona Dirlam is GIA’s Librarian Emerita.
Pioneer of gem photography Harold Van Pelt—“Van” to his friends and colleagues—passed away at the age of 100 (figure 1). Over three decades, he and his wife, Erica, contributed hundreds of photographs—including 93 covers—to Gems & Gemology.
Born in Paola, Kansas, Van graduated from the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California, in 1953. After he and Erica married in the early 1960s, they made a good living photographing commercial furniture. Since this work was seasonal, they used their downtime to visit Europe, Africa, and Asia. Shooting thousands of photographs in museums during their travels, they became attracted to minerals and ultimately gems. By the late 1960s and early ’70s, they began attending the Tucson gem and mineral shows, soon photographing major gem crystals and, inevitably, fashioned gems.
In 1981, when G&G transitioned to a larger, full-color format with an expanded editorial review board, the Van Pelts played a pivotal role in the journal’s growing acceptance by both the gem industry and the scientific community. Their first cover, the 217.8 ct Mogul emerald featured on the Summer 1981 issue (figure 2, left), and the many superb images they provided for Peter Keller’s landmark article on Colombian emeralds in that issue, demonstrated that a scientific article could be beautiful and substantive at the same time.
While the Van Pelts published gem and mineral photos in numerous books and magazines during their career, their collaboration with G&G is one of their longest and, perhaps, most demanding professional relationships. Unlike images produced today, where gems are photographed individually and then composited into a single picture, they photographed multiple gems in a single shot. Their attention to lighting and color typically required many hours of setup for a single 8 × 10 transparency. Readers often commented that the accuracy of their color was unmatched in the field (figure 2, right).
More than a gifted photographer, Van was also an accomplished gem carver. Inspired by the museum collections seen during their world travels, he fashioned large pieces of rock crystal, agate, and other gem materials into exquisite objects that have been displayed at museums in the United States and Germany (figure 3). Using machinery he made or modified, he carved hundreds of items over 60-plus years.
We share our heartfelt condolences with Erica and Van’s extended family, friends, and colleagues. May Van’s legacy live on in the many extraordinary photos he and Erica produced—and in the beautiful objects he created—with skill, patience, and the eye of a true artist.
Alice Keller is Editor-in-Chief Emerita of Gems & Gemology. Dona Dirlam is GIA’s Librarian Emerita.
