Chloe Chidester
In Motion Staff Writer
“God has the best photography staff in the world right now.” That is how colleague Chuck Luzier describes David Martin and Bruce Moyer’s deaths last year.
Lance Rothwell/In Motion
David Martin and Bruce Moyer both died in late 2013 within a month of each other. Moyer, who worked for the Tampa Bay Times as the deputy director of photography, passed away after a long battle with cancer at age 52. Martin was struck by a heart attack as he was covering the Chik-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta on New Year’s Eve 2013 at 59 years old. A photographer to the very end, attempts to revive him were captured on Martin’s camera by the man himself. He shot 12 frames of rescue workers before finally letting go.
David Martin went from DSC – then Daytona Beach Community College – to the Lakeland Ledger in 1981, where he met and was hired by John Raoux. Raoux tells the story of how he chose Martin over the many other photographers he had been interviewing for the position at the Lakeland Ledger fondly, saying that David parked outside the building with his entire life in the back of a truck. “He would not leave. He came in every day asking, Did I get the job? Until one day, he did. And it was the best decision in my entire life.”
Martin’s college roommate at DBCC, Chuck Luzier lights up when he remembers his best friend. “Dave was the kind of guy who would stop and talk to anyone,” recalls Luzier. “He loved to tell stories and talk. That was Dave.
He was the person who, if there was someone putting a nail in a coffin, he would be talking to the guy as he hammered.”
Despite working for opposing companies during most of their careers, Luzier for Reuters and Martin for the Associated Press, their friendship never suffered. They were in contact throughout their lives, raising their children together and calling each other often. The last call Martin ever made to Luzier was the night before Martin died. Martin called to catch up, ask about Luzier’s kids, wife, job and life. “I think he knew,” Luzier remembers now. “He called a bunch of people before. He was saying goodbye.”
Lance Rothwell/ In Motion
Moyer and Wright graduated from DBCC in 1982, and Moyer went on to have an award-winning career in photojournalism. Moyer started out as a star staff photographer at the Naples Daily News, a photography team leader at The Sun in Bremerton, Wa. and carried out the rest of his career at the Tampa Bay Times, formerly St. Petersburg Times. He was awarded National Press Photographer’s Association Photo Editor of the Year award three years in a row.
Moyer’s wife Suzette was overcome with tears of joy and sorrow as she watched her husband’s work wash over his colleagues, teachers, friends and an entirely new generation of photographers. Bruce Moyer’s passing took a heavy toll on his wife, and she can still feel the loss almost a year later, but she is grateful that he will be remembered in a place that nurtured his creativity and will continue to encourage photography students in the years to come.
Described by everyone they knew as amazing teachers, photographers and people, Moyer and Martin are said to have enriched the lives of anyone that crossed their paths. The gallery was filled with people expressing their grief at the loss of two amazing men, but the overall feeling was positive, full of hope that their photographs and stories can inspire future photography students to touch the world as they did.
The exhibition was on display in the Photography Building in Gallery 202 through the end of October. It featured a medley of photographs from Martin’s career and an excerpt from Moyer’s “Faces of Competition” series.