Longtime newspaper photographer remembered by community

As a youngster, Bob Bickford didn't understand his father.

"We'd be driving, going some place, and he would see an opportunity for a picture of a sunset or nature," Bob Bickford said. "He'd say, 'I've got to pull over,' and he would just pull the car over, get his camera out of the back seat and spend the next 10 minutes taking pictures."

Bob Bickford's father, Charles, died Monday. Charles Bickford covered Northwest Arkansas as a photographer for The Springdale News and The Morning News from 1964 until his retirement in 2003.

"Now I see his pictures differently," Bob Bickford continued. "I see how he let people see the world differently, see Northwest Arkansas differently, see the Ozarks differently. They'd see it as he saw it. He saw beauty in so many things that a lot of us missed because we were hurrying around in our lives."

Today, the collection of Charles Bickford's work for the newspapers is preserved at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Springdale. Bob Besom, director emeritus of the Shiloh Museum, appreciated how Bickford would diligently research the information about his assignment and try to tell the story with a photograph.

"In time, he realized what he was doing, that his work would be appreciated longer than just for the contemporary," Besom said. "He just happened to cover a time in Northwest Arkansas that was filled with change. The appearance of Northwest Arkansas has changed dramatically. It was just a different place back when he started. He witnessed and recorded a totally amazing transition of the community."

"Charles Bickford had a byline on at least one picture every day," said Rick Schaeffer, who served as sports information director for Razorback athletics for 24 years. "During his period of time, he was probably as well known as any photographer in the state of Arkansas."

"He was one of the first photojournalists in the region," Besom said.

"What I love about (Bickford) is his work -- not the individual photos, but the collection of pictures, his body of work," said Andy Shupe, a photographer for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

"You need some pictures of (President Bill) Clinton campaigning in the '70s for governor? Charlie had them -- a lot of them, and they were good."

Shupe considered Bickford a role model. "He told me to stop what I was doing and take two steps back and take the picture," Shupe recalled. "He said, 'If you are there to take a picture, it is probably a big deal.' He'd take those two steps and get a marvelous picture.

"And he would make a good photo out of what doesn't seem that big of a deal," Shupe continued. "A politician speaking from the back of a pickup, and the three people right in front aren't listening. ... That politician might turn out to be Clinton."

Along with his photography, people remember Bickford as humble, happy, nice and fun to be around. "He was a very sweet and gentle man," said Rex Bailey, representing Springdale on the Washington County Quorum Court and a former Springdale City Council member.

Bailey, also the owner of Bailey's Barber and Style Shop in Springdale, counted on Bickford as a customer for many years. "He always tried to shop with the people downtown when he could," Bailey said. "He would have been real proud of our downtown area now."

Springdale District Judge Jeff Harper remembered Bickford taking a picture of an 11-year-old catching a fish out of the pond at Murphy Park. "It never made the paper, but I remember it," said Harper, who was that 11-year-old.

Harper also remembered the day he opened a new law office. "Jan. 2, 1984, at 8 a.m., he was at the door to congratulate me, shake my hand and tell me he hoped I did well."

Bickford was a big Razorback fan, shooting most every football game and numerous basketball and baseball games during his years at the newspaper.

"He never sought attention," Schaeffer said. "He was doing you a favor by being there, but he always thought you were doing him a favor."

And Bob Bickford got to tag along, taking his own pictures of the games starting in middle school. "A couple of times, my pictures got to run in the paper when I got a good shot," Bob Bickford said. "(My father) was willing to share his bylines."

"He was a steady, sure and dependable father," added Bickford, today a pastor of Groves Church in Webster Groves, Mo. "He loved his family. He loved my mom. He loved Jesus and was a faithful Christian follower. And he's left a great legacy."

NW News on 01/11/2017