Analysis on Obits

The obituary that I chose for my analysis this week is on Jim Marshall from the New York Times.  Jim Marshall was a Rock 'n' Roll photographer from many notable acts such as Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, and Johnny Cash.

The sources that were used included previous interviews with Marshall and people that he had worked with during his career such as Annie Leibovitz.  The person they used to confirm Marshall's death was a representative of him while Marshall was staying in New York.  Another source that the New York Times used was a curator who had worked a gallery featuring Marshall's photography in the past.  There is also a quote used from a book that Marshall wrote explaining himself as a photographer.

The lead of this obituary is very standard.  It starts with the persons name and then immediately goes into what Marshall's occupation was.  Then it explains why he is a public figure and what he is most known for, which was being a photographer of famous musical acts.  It then gives the date and location in which Marshall died and finally says his age.  The lead works well in the instance because I personally did not know who Jim Marshall was so it was nice having a simple explanation of his life, who is was, and why he is regarded as being important.

The obituary is different than a resume because it does have every detail of Marshall's life.  It gives details that are important to his legacy without being repetitive.  The article is also not in chronological order.  The beginnings of Marshall's career are more towards the middle of the article rather than right after the lead.  The end of the article, also, is a quote and carries more information about the latter part of his career in the '80's.  In the third to last paragraph is the information about survivors, or in this case the fact that Marshall did not have immediate family survivors.  This is information usually found closer to the end of an obituary.