Cinematographer Stuart Jewell, 84, Dies

Stuart Jewell, a pioneering cinematographer who turned time-lapse photography from a science into an art, died this week. He was 84.

The longtime resident of Garden Grove and Costa Mesa contributed to several of Disney’s “True-Life Adventure” films during his seven years with the studio, including “The Living Desert,” which won a best documentary Oscar in 1953.

Last year, he traveled around the world with his wife of five years, Irene, filming steam locomotives. And when he was home, he would be on the beach trying to capture the daily nuances of the Southern California sunset, his wife said.

“He never retired; he had no interest in retiring,” she said. “It was hard for me last year to keep up with him. He had so much energy, and such a zest for life.”

Born Stuart Valuable Jewell in Honolulu on May 19, 1913, he worked as a metallurgist in Oak Ridge, Tenn., for the Manhattan Project, which constructed the first atomic bomb, she said. Also a pilot, he began an aerial photography business.

In the late 1940s, he took time-lapse photography from the scientific lab and brought it to television audiences. He turned undetectable visions into now-familiar ones: clouds churning in the sky over several hours, or a flower pushing up through the dirt, twisting toward the sun and exploding in a colorful blossom.

“He loved nature and loved the camera. He would be up all night waiting for a flower to come up,” Irene Jewell said. “Forget about food, forget about everything. He just loved photography.”

In a 1974 interview, Jewell said he hoped his wildlife films spurred an appreciation in viewers.

“I feel that all I have to do is show the beauty of nature, and that’s a lesson in itself,” he said.

He claimed to be the first to film the pollen and nectar dances of honeybees, and he rowed amid mating whales off Baja California to film them jumping two-thirds out of the water and crashing on their backs.

He succumbed to colon cancer on Sunday, according to his wife. He had a cancer operation three years ago, but a week later was shooting photos in China in weather 20 degrees below zero, she said.

Jewell is also survived by a sister, Virginia McCurdy of St. Petersburg, Fla., and two stepdaughters.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at Harbor Lawn-Mount Olive Mortuary and Memorial Park, Costa Mesa.