Faculty News: Alumni Shares a Faculty Student Bond
November 3, 2017 Professor Emeritus Doug Lyttle passed away. He was 98.
Pictured above is Douglas Alfred Demetrios Lyttle, and his wife were photographed by RITphoto alum Dimitri Papadimitriou.
Lyttle was a professor in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. He was a beloved teacher of photography from 1969 to 1984. Lyttle moved to RIT after running a successful commercial and free-lance photography career in Kalamazoo, Michigan in his studio named “Douglas Lyttle, Photographer.” A sweet, gentle and very sociable man, he loved interacting with people and he especially enjoyed teaching technique and fostering artistic insight with students. Many of his former students became close friends and extended family members, which he often called his “adopted” daughters and sons. The motivation for this post came from a letter the School received from Karen Long, one of Prof Lyttle’s former students. It revealed the special bond faculty and their mentors can forge in this intense period of learning. Shared is a link to Karen’s letter Doug_Lyttle_combination We were moved by her letter and received permission share this story. It typifies the special bond many students have with their professors during and after their time at RIT.
Prof. Lyttle was born July 7, 1919 in Three Rivers Michigan. The family eventually moved to Saginaw, Michigan where his father was a teacher and served as principal of Saginaw High. Lyttle attended University of Michigan, graduating cum laude in 1941 with honors in chemistry. He was good at chemistry and said he opted for it knowing it would be excellent preparation to pursue his passion and goal for becoming a professional photographer.
Lyttle launched his full-time venture into professional photography in the early 1950’s when he resigned from Upjohn Company to open a studio in Kalamazoo in partnership with his wife Margaret. In addition to customary photography work, it wasn’t long before he was designated the exclusive photographer for portraits of Upjohn Company executives, followed by a wide variety of commercial photography assignments that included nationally recognized architectural firms as well as a growing list of contracts for advertising illustration with firms such as Selmer Instruments, Archway Cookies, Aid Association for Lutherans, and more.
Lyttle was a life-long learner and always dedicated time to studying and perfecting his craft. Among numerous awards and professional accomplishments, he was very proud of achieving, through extensive study and juried evaluation, the “Master of Photography” degree from the Professional Photographers of America. While extremely accomplished in all types of photography with an extraordinary eye for light, shadow and composition, Lyttle had a gift for photographing people, both candid and posed. He had an innate ability to engage and connect with people, an innocence and sincerity that charmed them, allowing him to capture the authentic essence of each person.
In 2002 he authored, Miracle on the Monastery Mountain. The book includes photographs from 22 extended visits to the Holy Mountain of Athos between 1972 and 1998. It includes stunning photographs of the monastic culture of Mt. Athos. The book began with a simple curiosity but rapidly evolved into his spiritual pilgrimages and a conversion to Greek Orthodoxy. The book chronicles the sweeping change in monastic life from a period of decline through 20 years of physical and spiritual rebirth on Mt. Athos. The life-long relationships he built with the monks gave him acceptance and welcome even as a non-Greek. The unique access and permission he was given to photograph and participate in aspects of monastic life resulted in a respectful and remarkable literary and visual record of the people, places, and meaning of monastic life.
You can read the obituary shared below;
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/douglas-lyttle-obituary?pid=1000000187154211&view=guestbook