Lewis Tanner, prolific photographer and urban cowboy, has died at 72

Lewis Tanner, 72, formerly of Elkins Park, prolific photographer, founder of Lewis Tanner Photography, musician, artist, writer, and California cowboy from Brooklyn, died Monday, Jan. 15, of septic shock at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, Calif.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Mr. Tanner arrived in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s and spent the next four decades providing exquisite photographs of all sorts to The Inquirer, architectural historian George E. Thomas, La Salle University, and countless other clients. He was an expert on lighting and mood, and much of his work features shadows and form and space.

He wanted at first to work on movie sets but instead focused on portraits and later became a commercial success in architectural and landscape photography. He published arresting images of stained-glass windows and decorative doors, and dozens of living rooms, dining rooms, fireplaces, and other home and garden scenes for The Inquirer’s Sunday magazine “Design” column in the 1990s.

He worked for a time with fellow Philadelphian Tom Crane at Crane’s architectural photography firm and later founded Lewis Tanner Photography. He was inspired by street scenes in Manayunk and Center City, and many of his pictures are featured in Thomas’ books about architects Frank Furness and William L. Price, and buildings at the University of Pennsylvania.

His son, Elias, worked as his assistant on many assignments for Thomas and said: “I never pass a Furness building without pointing it out and thinking about those early mornings. He was at his best with the camera in his hand.”

His stepson, Gabriel Innes, helped out often during development. “I spent a lot of time with him down there in the darkness, touching strange smelling liquids and polished paper,” he said.

Writer Debra Nussbaum, who worked with Mr. Tanner on articles for The Inquirer, praised his “wonderful sense of design and composition,” and Thomas said: “He could find the poetry in a tiny Manayunk alley or capture the perfect image of a building for its formal portrait.”

Mr. Tanner told Inquirer art critic Victoria Donohoe that dusk was his favorite time to take exterior photos, and she said his 1993 series of four cityscape images in a local exhibit represented “a series of encounters, unified both by form and tonal value.”

Though he came from Brooklyn and lived in Philadelphia for years, Mr. Tanner had a cowboy’s soul, his son said. He left New York after graduating high school in 1968 and earned a bachelor’s degree in critical studies at the California Institute of the Arts.

He lived with a friend on a ranch about 30 miles north of Los Angeles during those years, hitchhiked around the state, and rode his horse along dusty trails in the mountains. “He was a city guy, for sure,” his son said. “But he loved CalArts and his horse, Smack. He was at home as a cowboy, too.”

Mr. Tanner worked at La Salle College, now La Salle University, in the 1970s and ‘80s and photographed basketball games and official events for school publications and other clients. One 1975 photo of a nude torso resides in the collection of the La Salle University Art Museum.

He was old school when it came to technology and, his stepson said, “was very reluctant to go digital because he had such a passion to ‘get dirty’ in the darkroom.”

Lewis David Tanner was born Feb. 18, 1951. He was creative early, and his mother’s sister, an artist and expert in graphic design, encouraged his interest in art, writing, and photography.

He spent a year at Muhlenberg College as an English major before leaving for California and graduating from CalArts in 1972. He returned to Brooklyn, earned a master’s degree in photography at the Pratt Institute, and made his way to Philadelphia, where he had friends and found work.

He met Patti Patrizi in 1978, and they married in 1981. They had son Elias and lived in Philadelphia. After a divorce, he married Linda Feldman, and welcomed her sons, Eric and Gabriel, into his family. They divorced later, and he lived in Elkins Park.

Mr. Tanner had an extensive vocabulary, wrote poetry, and sketched. He played guitar, enjoyed jazz, and collected nearly 500 record albums.

He listened to Penn’s WXPN on the radio and liked Italian food and Western movies. He moved to California a few years ago to be close to his son, and they watched Eagles games together.

In true cowboy form, Mr. Tanner didn’t mind being alone and liked spending time at home. “He was happiest in the darkroom or out shooting,” his son said. “He was smart as hell and overflowing with talent. He had the perfect word to describe every moment and capture them on film.”

In addition to his son, former wives, and stepsons, Mr. Tanner is survived by other relatives. A sister died earlier.

Private services were held earlier.

Donations in his name may be made to WXPN Radio, 3025 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19104.