Steve Schapiro, Photojournalist Who Shot PEOPLE's First Cover, Dies at 87: 'His Talent Defied Genres'

Target Presse Agentur Gmbh/Getty Steve Schapiro

Photojournalist Steve Schapiro, whose work ranged from documenting the civil rights movement to taking celebrity portraits, has died. He was 87.

Schapiro died at his Chicago home of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 15, his wife, Maura Smith, told The New York Times.

"We have lost a giant of 20th-century photography, and Schapiro's contributions are immeasurable," Bob Ahern, director of archive photography for Getty Images, told CNN. "His talent defied genres, and he brought a compassionate and informed eye to events that decades later are still shaping our lives and our news today."

While working as a freelance photographer in the 1960s, Schapiro captured key moments in the American Civil Rights Movement, including the March on Washington in 1963 and the marches from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, the state capital, in 1965, the Times reported.

Among the activists and leaders he photographed during this time were Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., writer James Baldwin and Rep. John Lewis.

"He was important to the movement," filmmaker Ava DuVernay wrote on Twitter following news of the photojournalist's death. "His images moved minds during a crucial time."

RELATED: Corky Lee, Iconic Asian American Photographer, Dies of COVID at 73

In the early 1970s, when the magazines he had worked for folded or scaled back publication, Schapiro moved to Los Angeles, focusing on celebrity portraits, per the Times.

"I enjoy waiting for that moment when I sense something about someone," the late photographer said of his style during a 2017 interview with friend and gallery owner David Fahey, according to the newspaper.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

PEOPLE's inaugural issue, which hit newsstands on March 4, 1974

In addition to shooting album covers for Barbra Streisand and David Bowie, he did still photography for a number of movies, including The Godfather and Taxi Driver, according to CNN.

He also shot the cover for the first-ever issue of PEOPLE, which hit newsstands on March 4, 1974, and featured a photograph of Mia Farrow as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. (At the time, the magazine cost 35 cents.)

"Steve Schapiro was one of my favorite photographers," Streisand wrote on Twitter. "He followed me everywhere — London, Africa, on sets, off sets. He shall be missed, but he's left us with [a] great legacy of wonderful work."

RELATED: Rolling Stone Photographer Baron Wolman, Known for Iconic Images, Dies at 83 After Battling ALS

Schapiro remained active in the final years of his life, taking photos of the Black Lives Matter movement and photographing a demonstration against the death penalty, per the Times.

Schapiro is survived by his wife Maura; sons Theophilus Donoghue and Adam; daughters Elle Harvey and Taylor; and four grandchildren, according to the newspaper.

"It's rare to find photographers that can make photographs across so many genres and with such ease," Ahern told CNN. "But Steve's camera intersected with so many pivotal points in history and he did it all."