Posted on Fri, Oct. 24, 2003

Water rescue workers recovered the body of Tim Slattery, an acclaimed Duluth photographer, from the southern shipping channel in St. Louis Bay on Thursday evening.

Slattery, 52, whose wide body of work often focused on the way natural light played on Lake Superior, ships and the Aerial Lift Bridge, apparently fell off his 14-foot aluminum boat about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, the Coast Guard said. His camera equipment was found on board.

The early evening was calm, and a brilliant setting sun had lit low-slung clouds golden above Duluth.

The coal-carrying vessel Columbia Star called the Coast Guard after seeing a man fall off the boat, yell for help three times and then disappear from view. A rescue crew found the boat with its motor still running, going in circles.

Two crew members aboard the Columbia Star had spotted a man struggling in the cold water from the ship's dock at the Midwest Energy Terminal, said Lt. Rick Slatten of the St. Louis County Rescue Squad.

The water temperature at the time was about 48 degrees. Several boats from the U.S. Coast Guard and St. Louis and Douglas county rescue squads had searched for his body. As they worked, Slattery's boat was tied to a buoy several hundred yards from the ship and shore.

He was found about four hours later.

The area has currents, because it's where the St. Louis River flows into Lake Superior.

Slattery, who did portrait work for more than 25 years and photographed Twin Ports high school seniors, has some of his work on permanent display at the Minnesota State Capitol and his photographs were featured on the Seaway Port Authority's 1999 calendar.