About David Sutton, Photo-Journalist David Sutton, whose photo artistry is as much on display as is the fabulous per- sonality of the star in the John Wayne Tribute Exhibition, has been a photographer since his early teens when he studied under such tutors as famed Life photographers, Margaret Bourke-White and Eliot Elisofen.

Covering John Wayne films in the last 20 years, Sutton was special photographer on sets and locations so regularly that he became identified as John Wayne’s personal photographer- more a sobriquet than a title. But Sutton’s relationship with John Wayne also was as a friend, chess opponent (over 5,000 games) and frequent companion—days, months and years which provided many thousands of private life photos plus the myriad of images captured on set.

Sutton’s sentiments about John Wayne are fiercely loyal. In a wistful, reflective vein he says, "Duke was a real ‘pro’ and a magnificent subject. Our association and friendship gave me many golden moments." World War 2 pulled Sutton out of New York City and threw him as a combat photographer into the China-Burma-India theater where he flew 65 combat missions in a B25 as a photo-gunner, winning the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal

After the war and a brief stint with Life Magazine, he came West to open his own studio, offering the complete spectrum of photo services. In 1949, he won an Art Directors' Award for a Carnation Milk ad and did an exclusive two-page picture story for Look, later followed with a three-week trip down Glen Canyon for a six-page spread for the same magazine. Sutton has served as president and in other offices of professional photographer societies and as a contributing editor to Photographic magazine. In 1964 He won Kodak's International Color com petition with a shot of Maury Wills getting his record-setting 104th stolen base for the Dodgers. Kodak hung the photo at the New York World's Fair.

A visit to Sutton's home is a trip with super stars. His walls are covered with Autographed photos of his work of John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, George Bums, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Katharine Hepbum, Gene Kelly, Rod Steiger and others. Sutton's popularity and reputation as a Photographer stems in part from being consistently published in top magazines throughout the world. Paul Farber, publisher of Peterson's Photographic says, "An outstanding photo-journalist, Sutton's photo credits stagger the imagination." Creating the Exhibition

In conceiving the idea of a photographic tribute to John Wayne, David Sutton sought to emphasize "the image of the man" rather than the man's image. With the support of Michael Wayne, Duke's son, and the sponsorship of Great Western Savings, for which John Wayne had been the advertising spokesman, Sutton

spent two years creating John Wayne: The Man -- The Legend.

It is time well spent. Of the show, Frank Sinatra said: "David is the best of the best. When you see Duke’s photos you’ll know what I mean." Jimmy Stewart almost echoes: "John Wayne: The Man-- The Legend' is something very, very special. It exhibits great photographs of Duke taken over a period of 40 years by the outstanding photographer, David Sutton. I urge everybody to see it."