Chip Dayton, described in a 2008 article in The East Hampton Star as a “rock photographer-turned-house painter-turned-casual valet-turned-hunting guide-turned cabby,” died of cardiac arrest on Sept. 9 in Skowhegan, Me. He was 74 and had been in declining health for the past six months.
As that description illustrated, Mr. Dayton tried his hand at many things. As a rock-and-roll photographer, his portfolio included images of the Ramones, Cheap Trick, Blondie, Twisted Sister, Freddie Mercury, Van Halen, and the Rolling Stones, but it was his work with Kiss, beginning in the mid-1970s, that he was most passionate about. His photographs of the band were included in Kiss tour books and posters and in a book of his own, “Kiss Outtakes.” He also published a collection of his photos of the Ramones taken at CBGB.
Daniel Lacy Dayton III was born in Brooklyn on Jan. 12, 1951, to Daniel Lacy Dayton Jr. and the former Jeanne Owen. He grew up in Glen Cove and studied photography at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus.
He first came to East Hampton in 1968, with Johnny Fain, a California surfer who was on his first East Coast promotional tour for Greg Noll surfboards. His mother and stepfather moved to East Hampton not long after that, “but I thought it was deadsville,” he told The Star in that 2008 interview. “I had been living in California, surfing, finding myself, as they say. My parents said, ‘Come back and go to college.’ ”
Mr. Dayton and Debbie Johns were married on Oct. 26, 1985. They raised their two sons in East Hampton.
On the East End, Mr. Dayton fell in love with Gardiner’s Island, and eventually secured an invitation to the island from Robert Gardiner. That led to a friendship with the late Mr. Gardiner. Mr. Dayton became his assistant in the 1990s, helping out when he gave tours of the island or with hunting outings.
“The hunting parties were such an incredible experience, unique. Just a few miles away, an activity that went back centuries. It was like stepping back in time. The sense, the feel,” he told The Star.
His interest in East Hampton history led him to give historical tours of the village and its surroundings by taxi. He also had a wedding photography business here.
Mr. Dayton and his wife moved to Maine in 2020. She survives, as do their sons, John Sumner Dayton of Maine and Robert Elisha Dayton of East Hampton. He is also survived by a brother, Peter Dayton of Springs, and by a much-loved dachshund, Willy.
A sister, Susan Dayton, died before him.
