Dan Budnik, who photographed civil rights movement, dies

In his 2016 photo provided by the Dan Budnik Estate is Dan Budnik, in Santa Fe, N.M. The acclaimed photographer, noted for his portraits of artists in New York in the 1960s, along with the civil rights movement and Native American culture, has died in Arizona at age 87. Budnik's nephew Kim Newton says his uncle died last Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Tucson. (Rixt Bosma/Dan Budnik Estate via AP) In his 2016 photo provided by the Dan Budnik Estate is Dan Budnik, in Santa Fe, N.M. The acclaimed photographer, noted for his portraits of artists in New York in the 1960s, along with the civil rights movement and Native American culture, has died in Arizona at age 87. Budnik's nephew Kim Newton says his uncle died last Friday, Aug. 14, 2020, of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Tucson. (Rixt Bosma/Dan Budnik Estate via AP)

By Associated Press August 18, 2020 3 min read

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Acclaimed photographer Dan Budnik, noted for his portraits of artists in New York in the 1960s and documenting the civil rights movement and Native American culture, has died. He was 87.

Budnik died last Friday of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Tucson, nephew Kim Newton said Monday.

In 1958, Budnik photographed the Youth March for Integrated Schools and the March on Washington in 1963 as well as every stage of the Selma to Montgomery March in Alabama in 1965.

Budnik also was known for his striking portraits of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. just moments after his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. Time magazine chose one of Budnik’s portraits of King for its “I Have a Dream” 50th anniversary issue in 2013.

Born in Mineola, Long Island, Budnik followed his sister Vera to Los Angeles but returned to New York after graduating high school to study painting.