Barrie Schwortz

Barrie has been a friend to everyone, and everything related to the Shroud. 

Obituary

Barrie Schwortz, a renowned photographer and lecturer, passed away peacefully in the presence of his family on June 21, 2024, at the age of 77. Born the son of Nathan Schwortz and Florence T. (Rosenfeld) Black on September 12th, 1946, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Barrie's life was marked by an extraordinary journey that saw him become one of the leading experts on the Shroud of Turin.

Barrie has been a friend to everyone, and everything related to the Shroud. Being Jewish he always said he was surprised to be asked to be the documenting photographer for the STURP (The Shroud of Turin Research Project) team in 1978. ‘It’s a Christian relic. Why would you want a Jew on the team.’ This was the moment that changed his life. At the end of the STURP study period he and the team were allowed to touch the Shroud with his bare hands. In that moment when he did so he became a secondary relic.

As the official documenting photographer for STURP, his work played a pivotal role in the study, capturing detailed images that have been scrutinized and admired for decades by researchers and the public alike.

In 1996, he started the Shroud.com website to become the largest and most extensive resource for the Shroud of Turin with over 15 million visits from over sixty countries. It is a comprehensive resource for anyone interested in this enigmatic relic, reflecting his unwavering commitment to the dissemination of knowledge about the Shroud.

Since then, he has been one of the biggest proponents for the study of the Shroud and has promoted it around the world. He even spoke before Muslim Jalsa Salana conferences on the Shroud to promote it outside of the Judeo-Christian world. All of us in the Shroud world will sorely miss him.

Despite his fame in the scientific and religious communities, Barrie remained a humble and approachable individual. He was known for his warmth, generosity, and willingness to engage with people from all walks of life. His ability to explain complex scientific concepts in an accessible manner endeared him to many.

In addition to his work on the Shroud, Barrie had a successful career as a commercial photographer, capturing a wide range of subjects with his keen eye and artistic flair. His photographs were not only technically brilliant but also emotionally resonant, revealing his deep understanding of the human experience. He later moved to Los Angeles and became involved in the entertainment world being editor and post-production supervisor of many best-selling episodes of “Rocky and Bullwinkle”. He also won the Parent’s Choice Video of the Year award for “Money, History In Your Hands” starring James Earl Jones as well as two Silver Screen Awards from the International Film and Video Festival of 1996.

Barrie Schwortz's legacy will endure through his contributions to science, his captivating photographs and videos, and the countless lives he touched with his knowledge and kindness. He leaves behind a rich tapestry of memories and a profound impact on the world of shroud research and photography.

Barrie's contributions extended beyond his professional work. He was a loving patriarch to his family, a devoted father and a cherished friend to many around the world. His family, friends, and colleagues remember him for his infectious enthusiasm, his profound faith, and his dedication to the pursuit of truth. He is survived by his son David (wife Marissa) and two grandsons, Sullivan and Alistar (their mother Kelly).  A private memorial service was held. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to STERA at Shroud.com/steraform.htm, his enduring legacy.

Barrie Schwortz will be dearly missed, but his spirit and legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of those who were fortunate enough to know him.

Timeline

Gallery

Memory wall

January 12, 2025

I had many long telephone conversations with Barrie. We would talk about Shroud news, who was doing what in the Shroud world. It seemed that Barrie knew us all. And he had stories about all of us. He was the central figure of the American Shroud community and kept us well informed. He kept contact with Shroudies around the world. He was made aware of all the shroud news, good and bad. I had little news about Shroudies that he was unaware of. Everyone called Barrie to chat. Barrie was the American Mr. Shroud. There will never be another Mr. Shroud Man. Rest in peace my friend.

Richard Orareo

December 24, 2024

I found Barrie’s work on the shroud of turin, and his video very informative. I never forgot it. May his Spirit live on.

Jayne Segman

November 8, 2024

Barrie Schwortz was one of the few people who had the great privilege of touching and having direct access to the Shroud of Turin and being able to study it with STURP in 1978. He was therefore a true direct witness to the Shroud of Turin.

It is indisputable that the Shroud is a photographic negative, basically the first photograph in history and therefore a photographer like him was certainly the most competent and experienced to be able to study it. I would imagine that one of the first things he asked the Man of the Shroud when he met him face-to-face was precisely to reveal to him the mysterious way in which he managed to impress the Shroud cloth with that splendid photographic image that no man has ever managed to reproduce exactly and what was the exposure time used for the flow of light or heat. After all, the photographer and the photographed must always have particular skills and techniques to create a beautiful photograph and Barrie, just as he wanted to know the characteristics of all the new photographic cameras and techniques, will have been curious to discover this one too, which is certainly the most important of all.

He who represented a reference for the Shroud world had with us at Collegamento pro Sindone in Italy a point of reference in Rome that he affectionately called 'My Italian family'. In fact, he also visited our house several times and we had the great pleasure of eating together as if we were truly relatives and not just friends.

For over 25 years we have had collaborations with his great work on the website 'Shroud.com', translating articles from Italian to English and also sending news in real time, such as for the fire in the Shroud Chapel in 1997 and others on the occasion of subsequent Shroud Exhibitions.

Now he has already come to see the Man of the Shroud directly and surely they will have recognized each other and embraced each other as 'almost relatives' as he often liked to say, both of them being of Jewish origin after all. I can say that I feel a bit of healthy envy in imagining this scene and this makes me a little less sad in remembering Barrie in his simplicity and humanity.

A beautiful soul is never forgotten.

Rest In Peace Barrie. God bless you.

Collegamento pro Sindone

Maurizio Marinelli

November 5, 2024

Our hearts are broken with the passing of our dear friend Barrie. He was a very kind and tireless teacher to me and so many others. And, best of all, was his friendship that always carried with it a bounce to his voice and wonderful stories that he would tell us about all sorts of things regarding the Holy Shroud. I miss you, Barrie. Rest in peace, dear friend.

Teddi Pappas

November 2, 2024

I never met Barrie in person but I have had several telephone conversations with him beginning in the spring of 2023. I am very much a newcomer to the Shroud but when I emailed Barrie a question about the Postgraduate Certificate in Shroud Studies course, I received a phone call from a Colorado number shortly after sending the email. It was Barrie! I was flabbergasted! Why would Barrie Schwortz call me? I am a nobody in this arena. Barrie has a giant heart and we hit if off on the phone. It was just as if I was speaking with an old friend. He served in the Navy, I served in the Army - we were both born in mid-September (10 years apart) - it was just so easy speaking with him. In fact, I was thinking during that first phone call, "I've got to get going." LOL! I think we talked for well over an hour.

I ended up purchasing a full-size Shroud replica with two 4' x 8' photo negatives from Barrie through his STERA organization. That required more phone calls and I think that we may have ended up talking for close to five hours if all the calls were to be considered in total. Most of it was just shooting the breeze. I had hoped to meet him in person one day but that was not to be.

The strangest thing about this is that very shortly after I developed an intense interest in the Shroud in late January 2023, I felt that I needed to acquire the Shroud exhibit quickly. There just seemed to be an urgency surrounding it. I ordered the exhibit in November 2023 (one year ago) and it arrived on December 4, 2023 - the 491st anniversary of the 1532 fire in Chambery, France that nearly destroyed the Shroud. By April 2024 Barrie was not feeling well and in June he passed. I was shocked and saddened.

I knew Barrie for a very short time and only via the phone, but he was my friend. God bless you Barrie. May you rest in eternal peace.

David Emmith

November 2, 2024

I had the pleasure of speaking with Barrie on the phone for over an hour, but it felt like just five minutes. Our conversation centered around the Shroud, which is arguably the most studied artifact in human history. The image is truly remarkable and remains unexplainable, which, by definition, qualifies as a miracle. Many religions have their own significant artifacts, but the Shroud of Turin stands out uniquely, and we still have no idea how to reproduce the image exactly, nor do we understand what created it. I, like others, believe it serves as a modern-day parable: seek, and you shall find.

Michael Magyar

November 2, 2024

Never met Barrie in person, but planned to visit him in the fall of 2024.

In 2023, contacted Barrie about a class though the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum (aka othonia international) as I found the institute to be unresponsive to inquiries. Barrie assured that they were above board and legitimate. Later, after trying to get through to the institute during much of March - June, 2023, I contacted him again. Barrie was incredibly helpful and told me not to be concerned because "Italians like vacations" and he actually called the people in Turin Italy for me and told me that they were all on vacation!. When I tried to sign up for the postgraduate program, I again communicated with him about problems with registration and an overall lack of response from Italy. He told me to just keep trying, and they would contact me near the last day of registration. He was almost right, I was finally contacted by the institute 2 weeks after the semester started.

Barrie, taught the initial class on the shroud and provided exemplary presentations - and without any kind of broken Italian accent. I very much appreciated his contributions to the class and his assistance in contacting the school for me. He seemed to be a very upright person. May God bless your soul, Barrie. See you in a few years.

W. Dan Hausel

September 14, 2024

I met Barrie at one of his speaking engagements in Cincinnati Ohio. I asked him some photography questions about the shroud since we both are photographers. I delighted in his answer. He will be missed.

James Dews

September 8, 2024

I met Barrie by phone initially when I wanted to purchase a high quality image of the ventral image of the Shroud. He consulted with me and helped me to purchase from STERA the full-sized negative image in black and white. It was based on an image that he had taken of the Shroud when he was in Turin Italy during the STURP project in 1978. He was always happy to take a call and he could talk for hours on various topics. We quickly became friends and it was two years later that I finally met him in Houston, TX at the opening of the Shroud exhibit at the National Funeral History Museum. (Of course, the Shroud represented the greatest funeral of all time.). When we met, he remarked a few times at how tall I was. The other thing that I will always remember is that at the end of the on-site research in October, 1978 that the whole team was allowed to touch the Shroud with their bare hands. What an honor for all of them. In so doing however, when you touch something that is a primary relic, whatever touched it becomes a secondary relic.
In his death, after spending over 40 years researching the Shroud, and seeing the resurrected face of Jesus Christ, Barrie is in Heaven able to see the living face of Jesus. Barrie, Rest in Peace.

Guy Powell

Family tree

Nathan Schwortz

Florence T. (Rosenfeld) Black

David Schwortz

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David Schwortz

Barrie Schwortz

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