Perched courtside behind the net on his ever-present stool, DickRaphael had the best seat in Boston Garden to shoot photos of BillRussell and Wilt Chamberlain, the towering centers whose rivalry inthe 1960s became legendary in NBA history.
'Being down on the court gave me a true feel for how big theseplayers were, especially Wilt, who was 7-foot-1 and close to 300pounds,' Mr. Raphael said in a 2005 interview with the Celtic Nationwebsite. 'So it quickly struck me that these men were giants in avery literal sense.'
Mr. Raphael, whose iconic photo of Boston Celtic great Russelldeflecting a shot by Chamberlain was his personal favorite and anenduring image of professional basketball, died Saturday in theMarblehead house where he lived his entire life. He was 68 and hadbecome ill Friday before collapsing at home the next evening.
'You can't exaggerate his status as a world-class photographer,'said Bob Ryan, a Globe sports columnist who collaborated with Mr.Raphael on a book about the Celtics. The photographer's collection ofprints and negatives, Ryan said, 'has got to be the most valuabletreasure trove of Boston sports photos ever taken.'
Opening an exhibit in 2001 made up entirely of Mr. Raphael'sphotos, the Basketball Hall of Fame called him 'the dean of Bostonsports photographers and one of the premier photographers in theUnited States.'
Mr. Raphael was among only a handful of professional photographersto capture images of every Super Bowl and was in Miami earlier thismonth for the 41st - the first played in pouring rain.
'He joked on the way back - we left at halftime because it was sowet - that he's now been to 40 and a half Super Bowls,' said hislongtime friend, Alan Belinfante of Marblehead, Mr. Raphael'sassistant for 11 of the title games.
Publishing his photos widely, including in the Globe and on coversfor Sports Illustrated magazine, Mr. Raphael captured theprofessional lives of many Boston sports legends from the moment theystepped onto a basketball court, a football field, a baseballdiamond, or a hockey rink, until their numbers were retired.
His lens was hardly confined to marquee sports, however. As hetold the Globe in 1997, he had photographed 'every sport you canthink of, including lacrosse, field hockey, rugby, crew, soccer, Ping-Pong, squash, indoor and outdoor track and cross-country, sailing,golf, and others.'
To get great photographs, he often said, a photographer must be astudent of sports to develop a sense of where to stand at the keymoment to get 'the money shot.' Also, he said, photographers shouldbe straight-shooters in the literal and figurative sense.
'Be honest with people,' Mr. Raphael said in the Celtic Nationinterview with Michael D. McClellan. 'Always tell the truth.'
Richard Raphael grew up in Marblehead and was introduced tophotography by his father, who had built a darkroom in theirbasement.
'He was more than a father, he was a mentor and a friend,' Mr.Raphael told the Globe. 'I'm doing what I'm doing - and loving it -because of him. He got me started, and I've been at it since.'
His first professional publication came while he was in eighthgrade. Shot with a Brownie Hawkeye, the photo from Marblehead RaceWeek ran in the Marblehead Messenger.
He graduated from Marblehead High School and Boston University,where he studied chemistry and began a long association with collegesports, becoming photo editor at Boston University News. Whileworking there, he went to the Celtics' public relations director andtalked his way into shooting photos on a freelance basis, beginning along association with the team, from the Russell era to the LarryBird era.
For years he photographed every home game of the Boston Patriots,before the team became the New England Patriots. Weekends often werea blur.
'He would shoot Harvard football on Saturday afternoon,' saidMeralee Whitman, Mr. Raphael's companion of 31 years. 'He would goback to his office and make proof sheets, drive over to Harvard anddrop them off, then he would drive to my apartment in the North End,and I would make him dinner and make him watch `The Love Boat.' Thenon Sunday morning, he would get up, shower, shave, and leave to goshoot the Patriots.'
'The Love Boat' aside, Mr. Raphael's TV hours were principallydevoted to sports. For him, it was work and pleasure as he studiedplayers to see how their movements telegraphed plays in advance so hewould know where to position himself at games.
'He always seemed to be in the right place at the right time,'Belinfante said. 'You wouldn't even see him move. I'd turn around,and he'd be gone - down at the other end zone and there for the bestshot.'
'He was a very lucky guy, because he did amazing things,' Whitmansaid. 'Photography was a hobby that became a vocation.'
In addition to Whitman, Mr. Raphael leaves his brother, Michael ofWindsor, Conn.
A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. today in Stanetsky-Hymanson Memorial Chapels in Salem. Burial will be in Shirat HayamCemetery in Peabody.
