RENOWNED photojournalist Flip Schulke - whose extraordinary chronicle of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. was featured in an exhibition at the Bermuda National Gallery some years ago - has released a new book.

Entitled Witness to Our Times, the hard-cover details his childhood and evolution as a photojournalist, and profiles some of the historic moments of the 20th century - as captured by Mr. Schulke and printed in such publications as Ebony Magazine, Life Magazine, Time, Newsweek and National Geographic. Included, among others, are pictures of Muhammad Ali, Jacques Cousteau, Martin Luther King, Jr., Harry Belafonte, John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, Fidel Castro and Chi Chi the giant panda who lived at London zoo.

The book was created as an inspiration to young people, according to Mr. Schulke who, at 73, spends much of his time speaking with students.

"It was my publisher who suggested I do the book," he explained yesterday from his home in Florida. "He felt that my career was inspiring to young people. I left home at 15 and really supported myself from then on.

"Because I was in the Army I got to go to college and became involved with photojournalism. I left college and went to work with the University of Miami because I couldn't get a job with the top newspapers.

"At that time, Florida was the best place a photojournalist could be. There was story after story after story. What I tell young people is if you have an interesting job, you never have to work a day in your life; (that) I'm just as excited and interested in everyday life now, at 73, as I was at 23."

A long-time visitor to the island - his sister is Bermudian Roxy Kaufmann and his nephew, photographer and National Liberal Party vice-chairman, Graeme Outerbridge - Mr. Schulke's iconic images of Dr. King were the focus of an exhibit at the Bermuda National Gallery in 1997.

Entitled King Remembered: Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement, the exhibit was composed of photographs captured during a ten-year friendship which ended when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968.

In May, the award-winning photojournalist and noted author received an honorary doctor of law degree from Rider University - the second in his profession ever to have received such recognition for his accomplishments.

"Over the past 50 years, he has chronicled the lives of national and international figures and documented important events," the university said on its decision to honour Mr. Schulke. "Acclaimed for his photographs of Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy and the fall of the Berlin Wall, he is best known for his documentation of the civil rights movement and the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"He covered nearly every major civil rights story in the South from the 1950s until Dr. King's assasination in 1968, accumulating more than 11,000 photographs of Dr. King and the civil rights movement - the largest personal collection in the world.

"In addition, (he) is an acclaimed pioneer of underwater photography and his contributions to this field have transformed underwater journalism."

A copy of the book was sent to musician Harry Belafonte at the suggestion of then-Acting Education Minister Michael Scott, Mrs. Kaufmann said. Mr. Belafonte visited the island earlier this month and is one of those captured in the book.

"I think he's had an extraordinary career," Mrs. Kaufmann said of her brother. "I think he is certainly the member of our family who has made the most outstanding contribution to the civil rights movement.

"If a magazine didn't send him on assignment, he'd go on marches anyway. He made a key difference perhaps before it was politically correct to do so. He changed the perception of Americans about a certain issue.

"His lecture series and photographic exhibit (at the Bermuda National Gallery) was very well received. "(BNG director) Laura Gorham and others felt it was an important exhibit to be held at the National Gallery; that it was an important collection and should be viewed by the Bermudian public."

Mr. Schulke said he began coming to Bermuda in the 1950s and continued, largely because of his sister.

"We're very similar," he said. "We just like people and I think that helped me (in my career). People who utilise technique are seen through, but if you're truly involved it's recognised and you become able to get in a lot of situations that others aren't.

"Everything I've done in Bermuda has been a positive story; a story on things that human beings are doing that is interesting - the kites, the whales, Teddy Tucker. I've been sent by companies that have conventions there, basically, anything I could get to go to Bermuda I would take it because I love Bermuda so much."

qWitness to Our Times is available at the Bookmart in the Phoenix Centre, Reid Street.