Howard Schatz, an internationally known, critically-acclaimed, and award-winning professional photographer, is one of the most prolific artists of our time. And, photography is his second career. Until his dramatic mid-life change, he was one of the most respected retina specialists in the world. His medical career is impressive. He’s the author of seven medical textbooks and over 100 scientific papers and has given hundreds of lectures in his specialty around the world. His resume as an artist is equally impressive. His work has been published in nineteen lavish coffee table books and his images are featured regularly in major magazines, including Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated and O. He has photographed Hollywood’s elite, including Ben Kingsley, Michael Douglas, Robin Williams, Geoffrey Rush, and Colin Firth, as well as all-star athletes, such as Albert Pujols, Serena Williams, Muhammad Ali, and David Beckham. From Condoleezza Rice to Nancy Pelosi to George Steinbrenner – to pregnant women and their newborns, the homeless, fashion models, and dancers, Schatz’s lens has captured many aspects of the human form. His work has been displayed globally in museums and art galleries and featured by major news media. His commercial work for Ralph Lauren RLX, Escada, Sergio Tacchini, Nike, Reebok, Wolford, Etienne Aigner, Sony, Adidas, Finlandia Vodka, MGM Grand Hotel, Virgin Records, Gatorade, McDonalds, AT&T, Mercedes-Benz and dozens of other leading companies has been viewed by millions. In 1987, he began making photographs seriously, devoting one full day a week to photography, converting his dining room into a studio. He purchased professional camera equipment and strobe lights and initially focused on making beautiful portraits. His commercial work grew and his photographic studies of newborns, dancers, and his ground-breaking underwater imagery were published in books to great acclaim. By 1995, at the urging of his wife, Beverly Ornstein, he took a one-year sabbatical from medicine, moved from San Francisco to New York City – and never looked back. His thriving practice in San Francisco and clinical professorship at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco were traded for a camera and a dark room. In 1995, the Chicago-born doctor-turned – artist moved to a studio in SoHo in New York City. Does he miss writing scientific research papers and textbooks and caring for patients? “I love the passionate pursuit of making images, just as I loved medicine, research, scientific writing and caring for patients,” says Schatz.
He has now turned his eye to professional boxing. His new book, born out of a six-year study and exploration, is a magnificent collection of fantastic and award-winning photographs and revealing interviews of boxing’s current champions and key movers and shakers including promoters, managers, announcers, referees, judges and trainers. At The Fights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing (to be published by Sports Illustrated Books, November 13, 2012) captures the great champions with breath-taking images that will fascinate not only sports fans, but those who value original, cutting-edge photography and fine art. And of the inner conflict he has about being a doctor who now is a photographer of a sport that many consider barbaric? “At The Fights humanizes and personalizes boxers”, says Schatz. “Boxers – far different from any other athlete – reveal a level of courage as well as vulnerability. My hope is that the photographs in At the fights capture the humanity behind the gloves.” Schatz has traded in his medical scrubs for a camera; his commitment to treating others with dignity and respect has never wavered, as a physician or as a photographer.
