obitoftheday:

Obit of the Day: Capturing Baltimore’s Sorrow

On March 29, 1984 the owner of the Baltimore Colts, Bob Irsay, packed up the entire organization into Mayflower moving vans to drive one thousand miles west to Indianapolis. Lloyd Pearson, a Baltimore Sun, photographer who captured the ups and downs of Charm City’s history for twenty years, was there. His photograph, above, became the symbol of Baltimore having its heart ripped out by Irsay and the NFL.

Random note: Baltimore got a new team, the Ravens, in 1996. Ironically, the Ravens left Cleveland in the same way the Colts left Baltimore. I don’t think Baltimore fans felt too guilty. Cleveland got a new Browns franchise in 1999.

Pearson, who died at the age of 90, had dreams of becoming an animator. Before serving in the Navy in World War II, he worked on Walt Disney’s Pinocchio but not for very long because “he got tired of drawing raindrops.” He took up photography during the war and never turned back.

You can see more of Pearson’s work here.

(Image is copyright Lloyd Pearson/Baltimore Sun, but is courtesy, of course, of the Indianapolis Star.)