Dietz, James ‘Jim’ David dh/Teresa
Burial Date: 2023, 09/02 Age: 53 Lot: 780 F Crems
David Dietz, known as Jim to most and James to a few, passed unexpectedly to a differenJames t realm, Jan. 30, 2019. Born Oct.26, 1965, in Sterling, Kansas, Jim lived much of his youth in Ottawa. He discovered his love of photography while at Ottawa High School. This love became a career.
Following graduation from Kansas State, he worked at the Blue Springs/Independence Examiner. This led to a global role in photojournalism at the Associated Press and then Getty Images. He was one of the initial lead instigators of the front line digital darkroom and electronic imaging processing.
His skills and participation were utilized at locations/events such as the Olympics, Academy Awards, professional sports, and world news events. His passing occurred whilst preparing for the 2019 Super Bowl in Atlanta. He shared his love for photojournalism in other ways.
He was an active participant and lead with the Eddie Adams Photography workshops. Father, son, brother, friend, photojournalist, thinker, doer, mechanic, skilled cook and enthusiast were all words used to describe Jim. There were few things for which Jim did not have a general understanding.
Jim loved spending time with his two daughters and especially enjoyed their visits to New York City when they explored all the city had to offer óexhibits, dining, shopping and museums. He spent extra time cultivating their special interests in photography, film and the arts. In his personal time, he would do his best to keep an older European car functioning.
Cooking, carpentry and reading were other delights. All who knew him will miss his knowledge, capability, skills and friendship. Jim is survived by his parents, Dylce and Louise Dietz, of Ottawa;sister, Carole Domogala, of Phoenix, Arizona; brothers, Mark Dietz, of Georgetown Texas; and Steven Dietz, of Merriam; daughters, Annalise Dietz and Alayna Dietz, of Annapolis, Maryland; and his partner, Diane Turner, of New York, New York.
A Memorial Service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, February 16, 2019 at the Lamb-Roberts Funeral Home, 325 S. Hickory, Ottawa, KS 66067. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, February 15, 2019 at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the Eddie Adams Workshop for Photography and sent in c/o the Lamb-Roberts Funeral Home, P.O. Box 14, Ottawa, KS 66067.
James David Dietz
Atlanta, Georgia
Oct 26, 1965 – Jan 30, 2019
Former Annapolitan, photojournalist Jim Dietz dies at 53
Give Jim Dietz a problem, and he would solve it for you.
Buying a new car? Electricity issues? The finer points of small-batch craft bourbon making? Dietz was your guy.
Dietz, 53, a former Annapolitan and Baltimore Sun photo editor, died Wednesday morning in Atlanta, where he was set to support Super Bowl LIII coverage for Getty Images. One of his favorite assignments, Dietz has worked the National Football League’s championship game on and off for the last 20 years.
There is no official cause of death, but Dietz complained of chest pain the morning he died.
While Dietz was a photographer and photo engineer by trade, he was so much more. A furniture maker, he could tell you when and where and how a table was made just by looking at it. A mechanic, he was known to tinker with his old car or tell you how to fix yours. A food aficionado, he could cure meats, distill his own alcohol and craft a lasagne bolognese.
A father and partner, he instilled in others the same creativity and passion he brought to his own work, those close to him said.
“He would do anything for anybody with a smile and an infectious laugh,” said Diane Turner, Dietz’s partner of four years. “We lost one of the good ones.”
Dietz moved to Annapolis in 1993 and raised his daughters Annalise and Alayna in the city. He worked as a photo editor for The Baltimore Sun between 1993 and 1995.
He moved to New York City in 2012, but traveled across the country and the world supporting photography for big events such as the Super Bowl, the Olympics and the Academy Awards.
Colleagues call Dietz a “genius” for his work with photo technology. An editorial events engineer for Getty, he created tools to zap photos from cameras to the cloud in seconds. He made software that helped photographers edit their pictures faster and more efficiently.
His work made it possible for photographers to transmit their work from some of the harshest, most hectic conditions to the rest of the world.
It was in this capacity that Dietz supported the Super Bowl. He and Turner were at the game in 2000, the last time Atlanta hosted, though they didn’t know each other at the time.
“It’s always the photographer who gets the byline,” said Mike Heiman, senior director of editorial operations at Getty, “but he should have had his name attached to nearly every picture for every major event in the last five years.”
This Super Bowl is the first where photographers will use a proprietary editing software Dietz developed.
“It’s going to be a nice tribute to Jim,” Heiman said.
Dietz also made time in his busy schedule to give back.
He constructed the supporting technology at NYC Salt, a New York-based nonprofit that teaches high school and college students about photography.
Dietz was there from the beginning, making sure the NYC Salt studios were properly equipped and the students could archive their hard drives.
“We really wanted to make our program not just a community for the kids, but for people in the industry to give back and get to know each other and meet each other,” said Alicia Hansen, who founded NYC Salt and befriended Dietz through their work, “and Jim was a really big part of that.”
Dietz grew up mostly in Ottawa, Kansas, and studied journalism at Kansas State University.
In addition to his partner and two daughters, Dietz is survived by parents Dylce and Louise Dietz; sister Carole Domagola; and brothers Mark Dietz and Steven Dietz.
A memorial ceremony is planned for Feb. 16, Ottawa, Kansas.