Photographer Put Magic Indy Moments Into Clear Focus
By Dick Mittman
indy500.com
Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Photographers have snapped pictures at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since the first shovel of dirt was turned to build the track in 1909. There probably have been more rolls of film and digital images shot by professionals and amateurs at IMS than at any other sporting facility in the world.

Frank Fisse is one of those professionals. He took his initial photograph at the Indianapolis 500 of Duke Nalon's crash on the north chute during the 1949 race. It was the first of hundreds that would be published in The Indianapolis Star during his award-winning career that ended with retirement in 1989.

There was, however, one photo that stands out above the rest and ranks, along with, for instance, the picture of Pancho Carter's car flying upside down, as the greatest action photo ever snapped at the track.

It was a dramatic picture of 1963 Indianapolis 500 champion Parnelli Jones bailing out of his burning and moving car in the pits during the 1964 race.

This year was the 40th anniversary of that photo. It appeared in newspapers throughout the world the day after the race. It brought him one of four Bushemi Awards he won as Associated Press best picture of the year.

Fisse got this remarkable photograph because he had guts. He stood his ground as Parnelli's Agajanian-Bowes roadster came at him while other photographers and officials scrambled for safety.

"I was at the end of the pits," said Fisse, now 77 and living with Lyn, his wife of 56 years, on the far Eastside of Indianapolis. "Somebody said, 'He's on fire.' They didn't get the gas cap on or something, and it caught fire.

"I had a long-distance lens on, and he looked farther away. I didn't realize he was that close. The car was still rolling, but it did scrape the pit wall and slow down."

One thing Fisse did know was that Parnelli was going to have to get out of the car, and he was going to get that shot.

When Parnelli dove out of the right side of the cockpit, Fisse was pushing the button on his camera. He caught the great driver with his body sideways abandoning his machine.

"He was lucky," Fisse said.

So was Fisse. A photographer on a boom further back was snapping pictures from long distance. He did not get Fisse's award-winning picture, but he did get shots of others getting out of the way until Fisse is left standing in the pit aiming his camera all alone.

AP wired the photo around the world. About a month later, Fisse received from the wire service a thick package of newspapers from London, Paris and other major cities around the globe that published his picture.

I have to say I was lucky," he said, not only about getting that special photograph but about his career.

Born in Indianapolis on March 31, 1927, Fisse was attending Butler University in the late 1940s and working nights at the "cop shop" - a newspaper term for police headquarters - when a police captain showed him how to operate a Speed Graphic camera. Two weeks later, Fisse took his first pictures of an accident and found he got $5 extra in his paycheck if a photo was published.

"In those days, that was great money," he said. "Some weeks I got $25 extra."

In 1949, he was moved into the photo department and soon was being sent to cover football and basketball games at Indiana, Purdue and Notre Dame universities. No one else on the staff cared much about shooting sports. Fisse loved it.

He got the picture of Nalon's crash from the infield during the '49 Indianapolis 500. Another time at the Hoosier 100 race at the Fairgrounds he caught a picture of driver Allen Crowe's wheel coming off and won two awards. Once a fuel tanker crashed and exploded into flames close to his house. He took a picture of a burning car at a school riot and of a tornado in southern Indiana.

Star sports editor Bob Collins was with him when the tornado appeared and said he wanted to crawl under their car. Not Fisse. He again stood up to the twister and got his shot.

Of course, Fisse, father of six, said he always tried to take a safe approach to his job. It was, he said, that things just seemed to happen around him.

On the safe side, he did photograph every U.S. president from Harry S Truman to Ronald Reagan, except for Jimmy Carter.

But each month of May, the Speedway was Fisse's hangout as his camera advanced from the archaic Speed Graphic to a high speed Nikon 35mm with a zoom lens. Many of the drivers and mechanics became his friends. The Indianapolis 500 Oldtimers Club member played basketball regularly with driver Gene Hartley.

In 1961, Fisse snapped a photo of driver Bill Cheesbourg smoking a victory cigar in the pits at Indy after qualifying. Fisse received a call from the Cigar Institute of America suggesting he enter it in a worldwide contest the firm was conducting. It won the $1,000 first prize, beating out a New York Daily News photo of New York Yankees manager Ralph Houk and the third-place picture of a jet pilot. Fisse bought a Studebaker Lark with the money and drove it on assignments for years.

Fisse had an easygoing way about him that brought the racing people to him. Once he was in the garage area and saw A.J. Foyt and his father Tony get into an argument. He left and went down to the first turn to sit by the creek and relax on a slow practice afternoon. Suddenly, someone sat down beside him. It was Foyt who said he was having a bad day. They talked about many things until it was time for A.J. to take a late run. They returned to the garages together and some of Fisse's fellow photographers joked with him that they didn't realize Foyt was his buddy.

"I didn't either," Fisse said he responded.

Mark Donohue, 1972 Indy 500 champion, was one of Fisse's favorite drivers. He said the friendly Donohue made himself available when other drivers wouldn't. Cheesbourg also ranked pretty high with Fisse.

Fisse's pictures stretched from the days of the roadster to the modern 200-mph rear-engine cars.

When Fisse retired, The Star gave him his cameras and equipment that he had used in later years.

"I still use them today," he said, "but I take pictures of my grandkids." ***

2005 tickets: To purchase tickets, camping or parking for the 89th Indianapolis 500, contact the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY or log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.


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