Photographer Martha Holmes dead at 83

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- One of Life Magazines first female photographers, Martha Holmes, who is known for her shots of celebrities, has died in New York of natural causes. She was 83.

In her 40-year career, her most well known piece was a photo of artist Jackson Pollock that was used as the basis for a commemorative postage stamp in 1999, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

She was "providing an important glimpse into our history (that) will be a lasting legacy," said Life magazine picture editor Bobbi Baker Burrows in a statement.

Holmes worked freelance for most of her life, acting as the house photographer for the American Place Theatre in New York for nearly 30 years.

"She had a very keen eye and captured a photograph at just the right moment," said Wynn Handman, the theater's artistic director. "She was always smiling, a real smile, from the inside."

She is survived by two daughters and two grandchildren.