2004 Inductee
Before television, Darrell Barton was a combat marine in Vietnam. He began his career at KAKE in Wichita, then was hired in 1969 by WKY/KTVY in Oklahoma City where he worked for the next 14 years. As Chief Photographer, he inspired a consistently award-winning staff that received two National Press Photographer’s Association Station of the Year titles. He was named NPPA Photographer of the Year in 1974 and again in 1981.
In 1983 Darrell established Barton Productions and has worked as a freelancer for all major networks. When 48 Hours was created, Darrell quickly became a charter member of the cadre of shooters used on the show. He is widely regarded as one of the finest television cameramen ever, pioneering that fluid, invisible hand-held camera technique.
Throughout his career, Darrell has maintained a close relationship with the NPPA television workshop held annually in Norman, OK; he has been a faculty member for 30 years despite his globetrotting schedule. Darrell teaches storytelling with compassion and is a vocal proponent of words married to pictures and sound; such basic concepts as “beginning, middle, end” are woven into the fabric of his shooting style. He is a recipient of the NPPA’s Morris Berman citation and the prestigious Joseph Sprague Memorial Award, a national Emmy nomination and a Gold Medal from the Chicago Film Festival.
Darrell and his wife, Marilyn, reside on a farm in rural Logan County, Oklahoma. He is the father of two grown children and spends his spare time tooling around in his old trucks, riding his Harley and hitting golf balls at passing trains from his back porch.