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Republic photographer Rob Schumacher was a grasp with the digital camera
The longtime award-winning Arizona Republic photographer captured not simply occasions along with his digital camera, however the emotions of the large moments.
To readers of The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher was a gifted photographer whose work they loved for greater than 35 years.
To his daughter Sara, he was “a fix-it guy.”
Schumacher, 62, who died Sunday, May 17, was all that and extra, together with a loyal father. “He loved his kids and would do anything for them,” his spouse, Sheila, mentioned.
Schumacher is survived by Sheila, his daughters Sara and Rachel, and a brother, Jay. An official explanation for loss of life is pending a health worker’s report.
After becoming a member of The Republic in 1990, Schumacher lined a dozen Olympic Games, seven Super Bowls, 9 Masters golf tournaments — and people have been only a few highlights within the sports activities world. He shot breaking information tales, disasters and heartwarming options. Among the numerous awards Schumacher gained, together with Arizona Press Club, Associated Press Sports Editors, Arizona Newspapers Association and Best of the West contests, one in all his images, “Foul Ball,” was named Photo of the Year by the Arizona Associated Press Managing Editors in 2003. He was named Arizona Photojournalist of the Year by the Arizona Press Club in 2020.
“For him, it was more than just a job,” mentioned Cheryl Evans, a former photographer at The Republic who labored with Schumacher for years. “It was his passion. I mean, he lived and breathed photojournalism.”
If one thing was taking place, Schumacher was going to get an image of it.
‘He was a grasp at anticipating occasions’
“In the summer of 2017, he was outside the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix when police and protesters squared off following a speech by President Donald Trump,” Greg Burton, the chief editor of The Republic, mentioned in an e-mail to the newspaper’s workers. “In a haze of tear gas and pepper spray, Rob said he ‘kept shooting until I couldn’t see any longer.'”
This wasn’t shocking to Schumacher’s colleagues.
“He could be relied on to capture the essence of most any event that he was sent to,” John Samora, a longtime Republic photographer and buddy of Schumacher’s, mentioned. “The thing about Rob, he was perfectly suited for his job as a news photographer because, just like with the sporting events, if it were a political event or a rally or a riot or whatever might have come down the pike, Rob wasn’t just there observing. He was anticipating. And he was a master at anticipating events.”
And, apparently, automobile upkeep, although plainly was only a thinly disguised excuse to dote over his daughters.
“He liked showing his love by fixing stuff, by taking care of stuff,” Sara mentioned. “For example, anytime I was over, he would take the keys, pop the hood up on my car, and would be checking oil, tire pressure.”
Even if, it appears, he wasn’t essentially as much as the duty.
“As a girl in your mid-20s, you let your oil run past 10,000 miles and you don’t really check it,” Sara mentioned. “He was recovering from shoulder surgery and my oil needed to be changed, so I made an appointment to go get my oil and my tires rotated at a place that does it, and I was so proud of myself because I was like, ‘Look, I’m adulting.'”
Her dad did not see it that method.
Schumacher was a loyal father
“I called my dad and I was like, I did it. I did that all by myself. I went and I took it somewhere. And he was like, ‘What do you mean you took it somewhere? Why didn’t you just bring it here?’ And I was like, ‘Right, yeah, you just had shoulder surgery.’ He’s like, ‘I can change your oil and rotate your tires. My shoulder’s not that bad.’ He took a lot of pride in taking care of us from a 360 standpoint.”
Of course, it wasn’t simply automotive care. It was much more than that.
“He was the same way with Rachel after she had back surgery and spinal fusion surgery and had to learn how to re-walk at 18,” Sara mentioned. “He was there in the hospital every morning, every night.”
A life spent capturing moments, and their context
Schumacher got here to The Republic after working on the Associated Press and United Press International. He wasn’t showy or demonstrative, and sometimes let his work do the speaking.
“Personality-wise, he was more of a quiet man than a loud man,” Sheila mentioned.
That’s true, however it did not imply he wasn’t keen to do what it took to get the shot he needed.
The stereotype is that sports activities pictures “sort of favors the aggressive,” mentioned Mark Dalton, the senior vice chairman for media relations for the Arizona Cardinals. “You’ve got to get that shot, whatever it might be. It’s aggressive and maybe, you know, not the most likable. And Rob certainly flew in the face of that. Thoughtful, borderline quiet … he always got it. The images and the product speaks for itself.”
Schumacher prolonged that generosity to colleagues ― and rivals.
“He was the photo team’s biggest advocate,” Megan Mendoza, a Republic photographer, mentioned. “I always appreciated the quiet dignity he brought to the team.”
So did the individuals he competed with for images.
“He’d kick your butt on assignment and help you make better frames, lend you gear and encourage while doing it,” Matt York, an Associated Press photographer, mentioned. “Rob was a perfect fit on any team. His work ethic was exemplary, he led by example and he was, after all was said and done, a friend. Truly, a friend.”
Schumacher did not simply know pictures, he knew the sport
A newsroom is a workforce, and photographers are a vital a part of it. Schumacher stood out in his disciplined strategy and the preparation he put in forward of every project.
“That’s what set him apart from a lot of the other photographers,” mentioned Michael Chow, one other former Republic photographer who labored with Schumacher. “Rob knew the game. He knew the athlete.”
It’s that onerous work that Schumacher put in on each project.
“I think what people don’t understand or realize, what he did to get to the level where he was, he studied a lot,” Chow mentioned. “What I mean by that is, you study athletes, you study their tendencies, you study where their family is sitting. If they react, which way are they gonna turn? So you’re able to anticipate.
“He did that loads. I might catch him, earlier than he took off for like an Olympic Games, he’d be learning the game, learning which athlete, what they did after they celebrated, which method they turned. People do not realize that, that it is not simply luck. You do not present up with a go and simply say, hey, OK, there’s tip-off, let’s go.”
Great pictures would not occur by chance.
“He would strategy any massive occasion with particular pictures in thoughts,” Samora said. “When you are at a reside sporting occasion … you by no means know precisely what is going on to occur. He was actually, actually good at anticipating pictures that is likely to be there. And in the event that they have been out there, he was typically set as much as get that image, to get the telling second of any occasion, whether or not it could be by way of a distant digital camera or the place he set himself up.”
That work paid off for Schumacher — and Republic readers — time and again.
A photojournalist who bucked stereotypes
“When it was an enormous recreation, I used to be all the time glad when Rob was protecting it,” Doug Tammaro, the senior associate athletic director for media relations at ASU, said. After he learned of Schumacher’s death, Tammaro looked over some correspondence between the two of them.
“One textual content hit dwelling,” he said. “In asking what time the soccer workforce can be returning to Mountain America Stadium after profitable the Big 12 title in 2024, his first phrase was CONGRATULATIONS. In a world the place individuals begin conversations with ‘I would like’ or ‘Can you assist me,’ his first phrases all the time have been optimistic and uplifting. I’m going to overlook my buddy, who was a rattling good photographer.”
Dalton famous that while you see photographers doing their work in motion pictures, “the cliché is these persons are unlikable characters jostling for place,” he said. “You’re like, I do not need to be round that kind. But Rob Schumacher, you do need to be round that kind of individuals.”
And his pictures mirrored his distinctive standpoint.
“It wasn’t simply an athlete’s response, however what’s within the background,” Samora said. “What’s going to assist inform the story? For instance, like at a Master’s occasion, it is not solely getting an image of Tiger Woods along with his arms up in victory, however what is going on on behind him? And Rob had a very uncanny capacity to anticipate and to form of pre-picture what he would desire a picture to seem like, and do all the pieces that he may to have issues within the background that might actually elevate a photograph.”
The greater the second, the higher the images.
“He lived for these moments,” Evans said.
Thanks to what Schumacher captured with his camera and his talent, those moments live on. As he said to a Republic colleague about his work, shortly before he died, “video begins and ends … however nonetheless {photograph} freezes a second in time like no different medium.”
Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Media commentary with a aspect of snark? Sign up for The Watchlist newsletter with Bill Goodykoontz.
This web page was created programmatically, to learn the article in its authentic location you’ll be able to go to the hyperlink bellow:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/arizona-republic/2026/05/20/rob-schumacher-obit/90150993007/
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