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Dec. 30--Gene Martin, a renowned portrait photographer who shot more than 50 covers for JazzTimes magazine between 1988 and 1998, has died. He was 55.
Martin, of Northport, died Dec. 16 following complications from a ruptured aorta he suffered that day on a photo shoot in Rockville Centre.
Born Gene Martin Gennusa on Feb. 26, 1951, he inherited a love of music from his father, a musician, and a love of photography from his uncle, a Navy photographer, said his mother, Teresa Stache, of Tucson, Ariz.
"From the time he was in high school, he was always doing what he loved best," Stache said.
His mother said he took her advice and dropped his last name, becoming known professionally as Gene Martin.
A 1969 graduate of Northport High School, Martin spent the next 15 years as a professional guitarist and then as a guitar teacher at Munro Music in East Northport.
However, he was most known for his specialty in lighting, angles and conceptual photographs of celebrities ranging from Bill Cosby and Ravi Shankar to Margaret Thatcher.
Martin ran a Web site featuring his celebrity snapshots along with urban and natural landscapes. He had much success as a freelance photographer and his work appeared in dozens of mainstream publications, including Time, Newsweek, Entertainment Weekly and U.S. News and World Report. Martin also snapped cover art for more than 300 CDs and posters.
In an interview with the photography Web site Double Exposure, Martin said, "My goal has always been to tell a story about a performer in a single image."
His lively and animated snapshots of Harry Connick Jr. playing a miniature piano and Jose Feliciano hugging his red guitar are examples of a huge body of work that earned him several awards. He was named one of the 50 finest portrait photographers in the United States in the book "The Best American Portrait Photography."
Although he lost sight in an eye after an ocular stroke in 2004, Martin continued his passion for photography.
"Instead of compromising, he went on a creative tear and he was just as interested in doing photography as ever," said Brian Zabawski, of Los Angeles, a high school friend.
Martin also continued teaching in recent years, focusing on lighting and photo seminars at The Hallmark Institute of Photography in Massachusetts and at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Photo Convention in Las Vegas in June.
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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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