Woodbury, NY—The imaging industry mourns the untimely passing of Lawrence R. White on February 5, 2010 at the age of 54, after bravely battling esophageal cancer. A Photo Science graduate of RIT, Larry was a QA and R&D engineer for Visual Graphic Systems before joining the staff of Modern Photography in 1978, where he served as its lab director for over a decade.
During his long tenure, he was instrumental in raising the technical level of the magazine and evolving the lab into one of the most respected camera testing facilities in the world. In 1988 he signed on as technical director of Popular Photography, where his brilliant accomplishments include developing and installing advanced state-of-the-art electronic optical testing facilities based on the innovative SQF system created at RIT, and writing authoritative and engaging articles on a wide variety of technical subjects.
It is no exaggeration to say that White’s technological genius bolstered the technical authority of both magazines he served, and his role was crucial in bringing the technical level of the entire industry to an entirely new level.
After leaving Pop Photo in 1995, Larry was president and editorial director of Hyperzine Communications, where he oversaw, created, programmed and published the first online, interactive database for photo enthusiasts. He was also editorial director of PhotoHighway.com, where he created a weekly newsletter, supervised the writing team and wrote numerous articles.
In 2000, White joined Bogen Imaging (now Manfrotto) as communications manager, where he oversaw website development, managed the database and price-book projects and worked with the press and PR firms. As always, his brilliant technical innovations were of enormous value to the company. In 2008, he left Bogen to become president of ImageTech Associates, a joint venture of imaging professionals to create products, websites and consulting opportunities. At the time of his passing, White was working on launching a travel/imaging portal, CameraWithMe.com.
Tracing the bare outlines of his long, amazingly productive career provides some insight into Larry White’s genius, but beyond his awesome technical prowess, he was a fascinating and utterly unique individual, a warmhearted, approachable, fun guy with a quick wit and a phenomenal sense of humor.
As his many friends in the industry have commented, Larry White was a pleasure to work with, a master of complex technologies, a font of bubbling creativity, an accomplished wordsmith, and the very embodiment of integrity and precision. He gave much to our industry over his decades-long career, and he will be sorely missed, both as an engaging and unique personality and as one of the great technical geniuses who helped bring us all into the digital era. He is survived by his wife, Esther; sister, Lori; and his parents, Helen and Bill White.
