ORANGE PARK – Chuck Liddy saw things differently through his viewfinder.

Sports fans would see a quarterback throw a 20-yard pass to a wide receiver for a touchdown; Liddy focused more on the grimacing scowl of an offensive lineman, blocking with his full weight, his veins protruding from his neck, blood dripping from his knuckles.

We watched life’s two-dimensional successes and failures; he showed us the raw emotion in virtual reality. We saw disaster and death in the real world; he made us feel the pain.

Liddy got a used camera from his father when he was 12, and he learned to use it as a free ticket to get into sporting events after he graduated in 1973 from Orange Park High. He volunteered to take sports photos at Clay Today for several seasons before being hired for the paper in 1975, and he quickly learned to tell a story with a single click of the lens.

He grew to become one of the most accomplished and revered photojournalists in the Southeast. He captured one of the greatest game-winning NCAA basketball moments, along with heartbreaking shots of hurricane rescues, a gut-wrenching photo of a smoldering boot after a U.S. Army Humvee ran over an IED in Iraq, unrest in Haiti, college basketball mayhem and war.

He worked for 46 years before retiring in 2019. His sister, Valerie Liddy, said he died last week in North Carolina at the age of 69.

“I always used to call Chuck an enigma because of how he could look at something so simple, just ordinary, and take a picture at an angle and turn it into something extraordinary,” she said.

“He had this cool ranch-style house and a mannequin sitting on a chair in his front window. At night, there were outside lights. So when you saw the lights on this mannequin, you thought it was a person sitting there. He also had some really off-the-wall fixtures. He had one picture of a girl upside down with just her face and hair hanging down. Her name was Jill, and she was tilted, so he called the picture ‘jilted.’”

He spent 26 years at The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to the newspaper, “Though he was known for sports photography, Liddy would get the shot for any story, and when there was no story at all. He was a master of the poignant standalone photo, a skill honed while cruising back roads and spying the perfect moment, that telling scene that could transport a reader with a single frame.”

The News & Observer said Liddy once said, “I’ve seen war, natural disasters, and terrible tragedies. But I’ve seen the beauty of nature and the wonderful things we, as fragile humans, can accomplish.”

Some of his famous pieces of work included a basketball leaving Christian Laettner’s hands with less than a second remaining in the game-winning shot to beat Kentucky for the 1992 NCAA basketball championship, Marion Jones’ reaction to winning the 1997 Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski getting in Dahntay Jones’ face after Jones fouls out with less than a second remaining against Kentucky.

“When I was in North Carolina, someone asked my name, and I said, ‘Valerie Liddy.’ They said, ‘Are you related to Chuck Liddy, the photographer?’ I couldn’t believe it. Everyone in North Carolina knew my brother.”

Word of Liddy’s death spread quickly among his classmates in Orange Park. Five months ago, Liddy was supposed to attend his alma mater’s 50-year reunion, but he said he couldn’t because he was the deciding vote at a homeowner’s meeting, classmate Ned Pike said. The group now knows the real reason.

“We saw him at our 30^th reunion, and he took pictures,” Pike said. “He said he was having the time of his life. It was strange he didn't come back.”

Liddy played football at Orange Park. According to quarterback and best friend Rob Hawkins, he was an offensive guard and wore No. 64.

“His daddy was a hardcore Marine and pushed us all to be all we can be,” Hawkins said. “I had a lot of respect for his daddy. I also had a bit of fear. He pushed us hard even when we weren’t playing football. It almost brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.”

Hawkins said Liddy knew what to expect on the football field because he played on the junior and senior varsity teams.

“Chuck knew a lot about football,” Hawkins said. “You never heard a lot about him because he played on the line.”

He said Liddy always approached things differently.

“When he got sick, he didn’t tell anybody,” Hawkins said. “I know he was shooting pictures for free for Clay Today when he was in high school so he could get experience. A lot of people didn't know that. He was always a different bird, to say the least.”

To read more on Chuck Liddy, visit the News & Observer’s story.