Joseph Costa was a veteran newspaper photographer whose career spanned 60 years. For nearly 44 years he was photographer, chief photographer, or photo supervisor on the New York Morning World, New York Morning News, the New York Daily News, the New York Daily Mirror, and King Features Syndicate. Until 1985, he taught photojournalism at Ball State University, which awarded him an honorary degree when he retired.
One of Mr. Costa's main interests was freedom of Information. To make courtroom photography possible, he worked on a technical education program for photographers, demonstrations before lawyers and judges, and a respectable and responsible image for the press photographer. He is frequently introduced before his articles as "Mr. Press Photography." In one of his articles on freedom of the press, he states:
The proper dissemination of news by a free press is not accomplished solely by the printed word. There is a visual record, too, that must be transmitted to do the complete job. The object of this complete job, of course, is the informed public on which our democracy stands.
He was a founder, first president, and chairman of the board of the National Press Photographers Association and executive editor or the official NPPA magazine, National Press Photographer, from 1946 to 1966. The NPPA's Joseph Costa Award and its Joseph Costa Award for Courtroom Photography are named in his honor.
From the guide to the Joseph Costa Papers, 1946-1967, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)
