Today, the world lost one of the photographer’s best friend. Photojournalists, editors, curators, gallery owners, publishers, are all in mourning.
Ray DeMoulin, who was loved around the world, died last night. His wife Barbara called me this morning and told me he died peacefully in her arms.
Ray was one of a kind, the kind you do not meet so easily anymore. Gentle, passionate, kind and generous, committed to helping us grow and make our projects come to life, with sometimes crazy ideas but always to improve the world of photography.
He gave a lot and never asked for anything in return. What made him happiest during these last days were all the letters, e-mails, and messages that kept pouring in from all over. Ray finally knew the world of photography loved him as much as he loved it.
Ray, we will always be happy and fortunate to have met you.
We will miss you, friend.
Our deepest condolences to Barbara and their family.
In gratitude,
“I met Ray in the early 1980. He was then the Vice President and general manager of Kodak, and thanks to him Kodak had a human friendly face supporting professional photographers with great generosity.
Ray was sponsoring the books “One Day In The Life..“ and many different photo projects of photojournalists around the world.. Ray changed the lives of many photographers by founding books and shows.
Thanks to Ray support, Sygma produced the book “In the Eye of Desert Storm“. In 1991, 24 photographers from Sygma working outside the official channels covered close up both the military and human side of the Persian Gulf war. The book received great claim and was the recipient of the Leica Award for best photo-book that year.
In the 1990, Ray had the vision for Kodak to enter the digital era, a true revolution way ahead at the time. Thanks to him, many photographers converted to digital photography.
JP and I cannot express how much we loved Ray, his kindness, his humility, his love for photography, how much we miss his positive and open mind and we are sure photographers around the world will join in our prayers for our dear friend Ray.”
Eliane Laffont
