For nearly thirty years, a stocky man with his trademark black mustache and the nickname “chief mug-taker” was a ubiquitous figure around Cranbrook. He was Harvey Croze, and he served as the official Cranbrook Foundation photographer from 1943-1970. Croze started his career in the darkrooms of Chrysler and General Motors, later studying under Ansel Adams. As chief photographer, Croze was a fixture at all Cranbrook institutions, snapping shots at everything from Cranbrook School for Boys sports games to the Academy of Art studios to the Institute of Science exhibitions and beyond. An award-winning photographer whose photographs have appeared worldwide, Croze will forever be remembered at Cranbrook as the man who captured history in the lens of his Leica.

~Robbie Terman, archivist

Cranbrook photographer Harvey Croze. Cranbrook Archives