Spring Break
Longtime photographer helped to break down gender barriers
Megan Mowery, Ana Bak, and Allie Brown
Issue date: 10/9/07 Section: News
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Linda Kaye, 65, who died from uterine cancer Sunday, Oct. 7, 2007, broke through gender boundaries in her profession and established herself as one of the first great woman photographers.
Her brother Roger Kaye said she ignored social norms and therefore succeeded in overcoming the gender barrier.
Ron Heflin, an Associated Press staff photographer who worked with Ms. Kaye, said when the Dallas Cowboys played in the Cotton Bowl, women were not allowed on the sidelines so Ms. Kaye couldn't go. However, she overcame these gender issues because she knew what she wanted and went after it, Heflin said.
Chancellor Victor Boschini, a friend of Ms. Kaye, said she wanted to pursue photojournalism because she wanted the power photographers have. Ms. Kaye told Boschini photographers could get anywhere with their passes and she wanted that.
But it took more than a press pass to work her way in.
Ms. Kaye's good friend Al Panzera, widely known among sports photographers, was her key to "getting in," Heflin said. Ms. Kaye would shadow Panzera at games and meet people through him.
Heflin said that was Ms. Kaye's way. She got to know people, and people got to know her, and that was how Ms. Kaye made herself acceptable, he said.
Eric Gay, an Associated Press staff photographer who worked alongside Ms. Kaye for many years, said Ms. Kaye could do anything any man would do, and she never once saw herself as being a woman in a man's world.
She loved photography and that's probably why she was so good at her job, Gay said.
"Losing Kaye is a great loss as a friend and a great loss to her profession," Gay said.
Ms. Kaye, who worked closely with TCU athletics, rarely missed a game or a chance to stand on the sidelines.
"Linda Kaye is a TCU legend and we are deeply saddened by her death," athletics director Danny Morrison said. "With the many outstanding images Linda captured through the years, her work will forever be remembered."
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