Larry Davis, 61; Times Photographer Captured Riots, War and Earthquakes

Larry Davis, who covered national political campaigns, rioting in Los Angeles and warfare in the Middle East as a photographer for the Los Angeles Times, has died. He was 61.

Davis, a Times staff photographer from 1980 to 1995, took his own life Thursday in Seattle, according to his sister-in-law, Lori Benner. Friends said he was in failing health with diabetes and was having trouble with his vision. He was also despondent over the loss of his wife, Bertha Jo Hagfors, who died of cancer two years ago.

“Larry Davis was an incredibly dedicated, passionate photojournalist,� said Colin Crawford, assistant managing editor for photography at The Times. “He had a real drive and great energy for covering the news both locally and globally.�

Davis and his wife moved to Seattle in 1995 after he accepted a voluntary separation package from The Times. He eventually left photography and started working with computers. Friends called him a “real whiz� with the Macintosh platform.

Born in Princeton, Ky., Davis earned a degree in political science from Arizona State University in 1968. He went into the clothing business after college but was drawn to photography and returned to the university for classes.

By the mid-1970s, he was working as a news photographer for the Mesa Tribune and the Tempe Daily News in Arizona. After leaving them, he did freelance work for several years in the Los Angeles area before being hired by The Times in 1980.

During his years at The Times, he covered a variety of news and feature stories, including hunger strikes by United Farm Workers leader Cesar Chavez, the Northridge earthquake of 1994, the Loma Prieta quake in 1989, the rioting in Los Angeles after the verdicts in the Rodney G. King trial in 1992 and the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Colleagues recalled him Friday as an excellent photographer who was tactful with his subjects and gentlemanly in his manner.

“He was just so smart and with it,� said Carey Goldberg, a former Times staff writer who is now a science writer with the Boston Globe. “He would do all the photographic work you would want, but his contributions went beyond that. It was like working with another reporter. He always managed to get his pictures without stemming the flow of the reporting.�

Hyungwon Kang, another former Times staffer and now a senior staff photographer for Reuters, recalled Davis as a key mentor.

“Larry had a profound influence on my career from early on, starting with my internship at The Times,� Kang said in an e-mail. “Larry generously shared his darkroom with me and taught me a great deal not only about photojournalism but about life. He was a truly gifted photojournalist.�

Davis left no immediate survivors.