Anchorage Daily News

For nearly 30 years, Daily News photographer Jim Lavrakas took some of the most arresting, lively and startling pictures ever printed in any newspaper -- photos that managed to tell the story as clearly as 1,000 words.

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Former Daily News photographer Jim Lavrakas

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When Lavrakas left the paper this fall, we asked him to sort through his thousands of images and select some that he particularly liked. Today we present that gallery.

Longtime readers will recognize a number of shots that not only nailed the action but have gone on to become emblematic of ongoing concerns and -- at the risk of prognosticating -- are likely to remain famous long after the incident they helped report has been forgotten.

Lavrakas was born in Lowell, Mass., where his father was a chemistry professor, in 1952. He grew up in the nearby dairy farm town of Dunstable. He became transfixed with the magic taking place in his father's basement darkroom when he was 12.

"I always knew what I wanted to do for a profession," he said. "I was one of the lucky ones in high school; in my yearbook, under 'ambition,' it says 'photojournalist.' "

He moved to Alaska in 1975. "My family was big into the outdoors, and Alaska always had an allure to me," he said. "I knew it would be a great place to get into the newspaper business."

By 1980 he was working part time for the Daily News, scrambling to get to fires and police incidents -- "ambulance chasing." He always made a point to know officers and firefighters personally and used those connections to help get close to the scene.

In 1981 he became a full-time member of the staff. His portfolio expanded beyond breaking news photos to include feature shots, sports, portraits, Iditarod coverage and contributions to the Daily News' 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning "People in Peril" series.

But his most famous photo has nothing to do with police, firetrucks, Shootout scores or human emotions. "Pike Swallows Rainbow Trout" (aka "In-Digestion"), the remarkable shot of a helpless little fish peering out from the maw of a voracious big fish, was picked up by news services around the world and won major awards. It was so unusual that some thought it may have been Photoshopped (it wasn't). One tenderhearted publication explained to readers that the pike was really offering friendly protection to the trout (it wasn't).

Lavrakas said that picture is the one of which he is most proud. It's a true photographic original, he explained. "Every photograph is a copy, or variation, of a photo the photographer has already seen. A truly original image is one that has never been taken before."

The pike photo certainly falls into that category.

Fish are the one thing that vies with photography for Lavrakas' enthusiasm. He went to the Anchor River for steelhead three times in November, which may be the definition of the hard-core Alaska fisherman.

Knowing of his piscatorial passion, editors approached him two years ago with the idea of doing a series of online "how-to" videos directed at first-time fishers.

"The first couple were pretty stiff. They were bad," he admitted. "Then I had a guy come up to me at Ship Creek shortly after we produced those first videos, and he said, 'Hey, you're that ADN Fishing Dude! Your videos are great -- and funny!' And the ADN Fishing Dude was born."

In the popular ongoing series, he said, he strove to develop the persona of a fishing buddy dispensing the best information he had.

And he has a lot of information. Photojournalism's loss is guiding's gain. This month he was studying for his water taxi ("six-pack") license. He and his wife, Ruth, hope eventually to relocate to Homer.

"I would like to run a B&B out of the property we own on the south side of Kachemak Bay," he said.

For the time being, though, he's looking for work in Anchorage, freelancing occasional newspaper assignments and, yes, photographing weddings.

He's recently expanded his outdoor repertoire to include hunting, having just bagged two deer on Afognak Island. He and Ruth also have more time to spend in their beloved cabin on Little Tutka Bay or running around Kachemak Bay on his 17-foot open skiff -- named, with typical Lavrakian drollery, the Cliffhanger.

"I may start on a boat-building project here over the winter," he said. "If I'm going to haul people around the bay, then I'll need a bigger boat."

Find Mike Dunham online at adn.com/contact/mdunham or call 257-4332.

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