In 1956 Jacques Lowe photographed Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy's father, Joseph, was so impressed with Lowe that he asked him to photograph John F. Kennedy and his wife. Three years later, Lowe became the official photographer of Kennedy's presidential campaign, and after Kennedy was elected, Lowe became his personal photographer.
Lowe was a very meticulous photographer. He had an estimated 40,000 negatives of images of John F. Kennedy and his family, though only 300-400 photographs were made public. While he was alive, Lowe watchfully monitored the use of his pictures. When a publication or museum wanted prints, he personally took the negatives to the lab for printing. When the job was done, he retrieved them himself.
Lowe's daughter, Thomasina, said, "He was being more prudent than most. He really believed they were as safe as they could ever be,'' she said. "He chose to have them there because he was six blocks away from them and he felt psychologically [as if] they were under his bed.''
All 40,000 negatives were kept in a safe-deposit vault at the JP Morgan Chase bank branch at 5 World Trade Center, a nine-story building that was heavily damaged in the September 11 attacks. A team of engineers, a 100-ton crane, forklifts, iron-workers, and dump trucks were brought in as part of a plan to move the vault from the second floor. But workers found major fire damage in the vault area; ashes filled the safe-deposit boxes.
The only thing that would have survived was metal or stone.
This story serves as an important reminder that earthly treasures are subject to moth, rust, thieves, and fire. The only lasting treasure we can store up is in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21).
