/ Archived Race Coverage / My Friend-Jim Brown

My Friend-Jim Brown

We Will Miss You

by Jeff Schultz

08/09/2006

I met Jim Brown in 1981 when I photographed my first Iditarod.

In 1982, we began photographing the race more or less in “tandem” for the next nearly 20 years as we were both the “Iditarod official photographers”. We also photographed many Jr. Iditarod’s together and the first “iditaski” events. I was amazed to see Jim out there getting into a supercub at 70+ years old and hiking up and down the trail. His dedication was an inspiration. We all should be so fortunate.

When Jim and I got together, like most photographers, we talked about the latest camera gear and such. We went through a lot of “photography transitions” over the years. Different types of film, cameras, the advent of electronic focus etc. When we were not talking photography, Jim told me about various aspects of his life…days in Fairbanks working for the railroad when rail cars would go off the tracks and how much of an ordeal it was to right the cars. He told me about those he worked with on the railroad were bummed when the “Wind Chill Factor” was “discovered”. 20 below was just 20-below even when it was a bit windy, but now when it was 20 below and blowing it could be 30 or 40 below. I think he told me they cursed the guy who thought of it.

I learned a lot from Jim. Jim was a documentary photographer. The pictures he made are the type that stand the test of time and can always be relied upon to show you the story of what went on during that event. Jim’s style was more documentary and my style of photography was more landscape like… small dog team in the big landscape. We made a good photo team for the trail committee’s needs. But I came to know how important Jim’s style is. Seeing and talking about his documentary style helped me to see that documenting the event is extremely important and revealing for later on in life when one is studying the time period or the race. I’ve incorporated Jim’s documentary style into my photography during Iditarod races just for that reason and it’s proven to be a HUGE asset.

Jim donated a large part of his life to photographing the Iditarod and those in the Iditarod family. His photographs are published in all the old Iditarod yearbooks – the “annuals” and the monthly newsletters – the “runners” and they grace the walls at the Iditarod headquarters building. Jim recorded on film some of Iditarod’s greatest moments for all the world to see. Because of Jim’s images people around the world who could never have seen the race were now a part of it. They could experience it through his eyes.

Now there were a few “awkward” times with Jim on the trail too. Like during an Iditarod banquet or two… some musher would come up to get his award, say two words and dash off the stage. Then you’d hear Jim yell--- “WAIT A MINUTE. GET BACK HERE AND LET ME TAKE YOUR PICTURE”. Jim would take it, then say “O.K. now you can go”. Thanks to Jim and his tenacity it is now documented. And at checkpoints. His snore could beat the band. I remember after a very loud night in Unalakleet where there were 30 or more people in one room, someone cleaned out a small storage room so that Jim could have it all to himself and the door could be closed to all of us.

When you travel through the villages along the trail you can see how Jim appreciated the people he met and the hospitality he was given during the race. Jim made black and white prints of those people and places and then he gave them as gifts to those he met. If you go to Takotna, Jim’s photos are the wall paper in the community center. Floor to ceiling photos of Jim’s. Same thing at many other villages and checkpoints too. Jim’s photos are everywhere along the Iditarod trail. He used to tell me, “a little soft soap goes a long way”.

Jim was dedicated to the Iditarod too… in the later years, Jim would be sitting down in a chair taking photos of the dog teams and he’d get his son or granddaughter to take photos too. He was dedicated to it all.

I last saw Jim this spring. I brought him a new Iditarod picture book. His eyes lit up and he talked of the trail and checkpoints as he went through the book one page at time, scanning the photos and reading the captions. I’d like to think he was reminiscing of his time out on the trail.

Alaska and the Iditarod family was blessed with a fine man and photographer. Jim Brown’s Iditarod photos will stand the test of time and be there when it’s time to look back on the race and remember. And we’ll remember Jim.