Atherton served in
Honolulu, and travelled to mainland China, and other parts of
Asian Pacific region, and eventually became a U.S.
military photographer during the period of
Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll by the United States. The United States Navy gave Atherton the opportunity to pursue a trade in order to return to civilian life and he elected to attend a photography college in
Silver Spring, Maryland. In 1948 he was a staffer for the wires, as a telephoto operator at
ACME Newspictures agency, becoming a photographer in 1950 at ACME, which a year later became part of
United Press International. He remained a freelancer for UPI for a period of over twenty years. Initially, as the rookie, he worked the night shift, and soon encountered difficulty gaining access to high society parties in Washington D.C. He overcome this cultural barrier, by dressing in the attire the hosts had stipulated for their guests. The first Annual White House Photographers Association Photo Contest took place in 1956. The following year, Atherton caught the attention of President
Dwight D. Eisenhower and was praised for photographing his wife,
Mamie Eisenhower peering through a mask with a “
I like Ike” slogan at a Republican Rally. He remained a member of this association beyond his retirement. Atherton photographs encapsulate the period of the Kennedy administration, between January 1961 and November 1963. (crouching at left), and another unidentified photographer take photos in the background. Oval Office, White House, Washington, D.C. Atherton was recognized on April 27, 1962, at the Annual White House Photographers Association Photo Contest (1962), by winning first prize. That year, he also won first in the White House Photographers Association “personalities category”, with photo of
Caroline Kennedy in conversation with a playmate. Other significant photographs included “a night view of the Capitol”, and
Roger Maris on first with a pained look after drawing a walk after last days of the season;
Grace Kelly and President
John F. Kennedy; and former Presidents Harry Truman and Eisenhower with President Kennedy at the funeral of Speaker
Sam Rayburn in 1961. One of his most iconic photographs is held within the
Library of Congress collection, and was taken on August 28, 1963, from an elevated position, behind the
Statue of Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Memorial). It is titled “Emancipator looks down on demonstrators”. As a freelance photographer, he covered every U.S. president from
Harry S. Truman to
Richard Nixon, as well as the major events of the day, such as the
McCarthy hearings, the
1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the
State funeral of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Very few contemporary world leaders from this period of history escaped his lens. On April 11, 1963, he was the press photographer during the search for
USS Thresher. The following month he took first place at the Annual White House Photographers Association Photo Contest; this time in the “spot-news category”, with a photo titled “Back from Space”. He captured on film the most pivotal moments of the Kennedy Presidency. One of Atherton's most iconic photographs is of President John F. Kennedy standing at
Checkpoint Charlie shortly before President gave his "
Ich bin ein Berliner" speech on June 26, 1963, in
West Berlin. Historically it is one of the best-known speeches of the Cold War and among the most famous anti-communist speeches. A signed print of his UPI photograph is now a collector's item. His award-winning photo coverage of the
Watergate hearings is most notable. Atherton continued to cover
Capitol Hill throughout the
Iran–Contra affair hearings, with
Getty Images owning his
Stock photography; at least 125 premium high resolution images that he captured through his lens. Other notable events; on Nov 11, 1983, he captured Senator
Charles Mathias and Majority Leader
Howard Baker discussing the aftermath of the
1983 United States Senate bombing. In 1997 he received the Kodak Professional White House
National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Achievement Award. Although he had retired from photo journalism in 1990, he continued to make himself available to students of photo journalism and academia until his death in 2011. Press around the U.S. paid tribute to him, with lengthy obituaries featured in the Boston Globe, The New York Times and the Washington Post. In his lengthy obituary,
The Boston Globe described how his colleagues referred to him as: from his practice of sacrificing what other photographers considered the best (or easiest) lighting conditions for a more arresting image. ==Personal==