Ross Lowell, Founder of Lowel-Light, Dies at 92.

Ross Lowell, whose long career included founding the location lighting specialist Lowel-Light -- and who famously created gaffer tape -- died February 15 at his home in Pound Ridge, New York. He was 92.

Born in 1926, he served as a military photographer in the Navy during World War II. After the war, he studied filmmaking at UCLA and USC. Lowel-Light got started when he was hired by the producer of the CBS series The 20th Century to help create a lighting system for scenes shot at the former Charles Lindbergh estate. According to Wikipedia, "Lowell invented a swiveling ball-and-clamp system for mounting lights, and he reworked Johnson & Johnson's Permacel duct tape product by combining the Permacel adhesive with a silver backing to create gaffer tape, which could hold a flat metal plate to a window. A ball joint attached to the plate could mount a small portable floodlight fixture. The gaffer tape would resist heat and stay in place for months without leaving a residue when removed." Lowel-Light opened for business in 1959. Over the years, he filed 20 patents and he won an Academy Award for Technical Achievement in 1980 for his compact lighting system.

Lowell also worked as a cinematographer. His credits include the television documentary William Faulkner's Mississippi (1965), Petulia: The Uncommon Movie (1968), and The Women of Summer (1985). He earned an Oscar nomination in 1979 for Oh Brother, My Brother, which focused on two of his sons. In 1987, he received the John Grierson Gold Medal from SMPTE "in recognition of his many achievements, inventions, and innovative developments in the field of lightweight lighting and of grip equipment." He also exhibited his still photography.

Lowell was married four times. He is survived by his four children, ten grandchildren, a sister, and two nieces.