I never knew or met Herbert Keppler, (Burt to his friends) who died on Friday aged 82, but his work did affect my life. Born in 1925 he had a long career in writing about photography, and was editor and publisher of Modern Photography which was an important magazine for photographers in the UK as well as America. It was his love and knowledge of photography that led to that magazine publishing portfolios and features of many important photographers, both historical and contemporary, in the 1970s and 80s, including some finely printed examples, at least one of which still hangs in a frame on one of my walls.
Keppler also set up what was probably the first real test laboratory for camera and lenses to back up Modern’s reviews, which were so much more comprehensive and technically authoritative than any others, particularly than those we could read in the UK, where lab testing generally meant poking the lens out of the window and photographing a ship across the Thames.
Keppler was a man with high standards, and he set up a program for vetting mail order ads for Pop Photo, which led to the magazine turning away over $2 million in advertising, according to the obituary by Mason Resnick on the Adorama site.
Later, after 37 years at ‘Modern’ (he joined as Associate Editor when it started in 1950) he was persuaded to move to the more popular ‘Popular Photography’, where he put in another 20 years service, continuing to work more or less until his death. Many of us deeply regretted when ‘Modern’ was bought and closed down by ‘Pop Photo’ , but at least Keppler ensured that its technical content aspired to the standards set by that title, as well as continuing to promote high standards in mail order.
As you would expect, there is an extensive obituary on the Pop Photo site, with more material promised later.