ELISE AMENDOLA // ‘SHE BLAZED A TRAIL IN PHOTOJOURNALISM’
Born in Queens, and raised on Long Island, Elise Amendola graduated from Tufts University before embarking on a 38 year career as a staff photographer for the Associated Press.
Assignments took her to many interesting places including the fall of the Berlin Wall, the UN as Colin Powell waved a test tube full of ‘anthrax,’ Logan Airport for the arrest of the ‘shoe bomber,’ Washington D.C., for presidential inaugurations, all across the United States with political campaigns, and even to Julia Child’s personal kitchen in Cambridge.
Based in the competitive sports city of Boston, Elise not only photographed news, but covered thousands of regular-season sporting events. She was tapped to cover numerous international competitions over the years, including World Cup Soccer, Olympics, Ryder Cup, Super Bowl, The Masters, and was named the Associated Press top sports photographer in 1994.
Elise has recently retired from the Associated Press, and lives north of Boston with her wife, Mary Schwalm, and their dog, Jpeg and cat, Megabyte.
The BPPA reached out to her former Associated Press colleagues and asked them to reflect on working with the groundbreaking photojournalist.
Stephan Savoia: ‘The Boston Press Photographers Association bestows its Lifetime Achievement Award with judicious consideration in irregular intervals to those precious few who have shown a strong and meaningful commitment to our region’s photojournalistic community.
I have known and worked alongside Elise Amendola for nearly half my life. Her strength and commitment extends far beyond her career life reaching into every aspect of her character.
Every person’s life is a journey through the pleasures and joys of living as well at its trials and tribulations. Elise embraces her journey and while doing so inspires others to embrace their own.
For the BPPA, the Lifetime Achievement Award is a distinguished career achievement. For me, Elise’s recognition goes well beyond that mark penetrating deep into the soul of her humanity. EFA, it is my honor to know you and call you my friend. With great love may the angels above smile upon you for the remainder of your beautiful journey and beyond.’
Amy Sancetta: ‘Elise was a big part of my road family within Associated Press for some 30 years. She was hired a few months before I was as staff in 1983 – Elise in Boston and myself in Philly. It’s kind of crazy, but while the AP was formed in 1846, Elise and I were only the 5th and 6th women staff photographers ever hired by the company.
Our years of being roomies on the road began at the Republican National Convention in Dallas in 1984. In those days, AP always doubled up traveling shooters, so if one woman was assigned to cover some big event, they always sent two. And luckily for me, Elise was my other half, again and again.
I don’t know that it really ever occurred to us to be intimidated as the only women shooters at major sporting events in those early days. We were good teammates, we loved the work, and we always contributed. And I think for event organizers and the athletes themselves, seeing two woman photographers in the center of things was just the right amount of disarming.
I’d like to think that the work we did over the decades set a good example for women shooting sports in the years to come. It’s nice to think that young women shooters coming along were encouraged by that. I’m so proud of the work today’s female shooters are producing.
Elise is an absolute treasure. She’s a marvelous photographer who does not miss, a great friend and mentor, someone who always challenged me to be at the top of my game. But beyond all that, she’s a simply wonderful human being. Anyone who has the good fortune to cross her path will be better for it. I know I am.’
Charlie Krupa: ‘Elise Amendola. I never really called her by her name. I quickly learned from the crew at the Associated Press Bureau that she was ‘Eh-FAH,’ a translation of her initials ‘EFA’ phonetically in the Boston-dialect.
Her co-workers on staff back in the 1980’s were Vin Alabiso, Dave Tennenbaum, Peter Southwick and Paul Benoit. In the AP network lingo of they day, they would use their initials, VJA, DMT, PAS and PRB, as an identifier of their work, but they were never known by that abbreviation outside the office. EFA was always EFA. Of nearly the 100 staff photographers at the AP when I started, there were only a few women. I never thought of her career as groundbreaking, but it was. What was clear to me from the start is that EFA led by example.
When working with EFA, I would know what was on her film even while an event was still going on. When an important moment would happen, I knew she had it captured. Images would be tack sharp, well composed and at the key moment.
Over the decades, we travelled on many assignments together. While I’ll always remember all the important historical moments documented while working, I’ll also remember the fun side of the job; running into wild kangaroos in Katoomba, having a few pints in London, taking a walk on the Great Wall of China. Work or pleasure, being with EFA was always a great experience. Truly an honor to be lucky enough to enjoy all this time ‘working.’
Looking back at the first time I met EFA, I remember her two Nikon F3T cameras, which stood out from the rest. On the surface, those rare F3T cameras had a champagne silver finish, but inside they were made of titanium. They were not like all the rest, and stronger than most. After nearly 40 years of working together, that early encounter set the tone for who EFA is; not like all the rest, and stronger than most.’