Welcome

Thanks for visiting my website. Though I’ve recently entered my sixth decade as a photographer, only my commercial photography has ever been published or exhibited. This website is a showcase for my personal work. Like so many photographers, I began making pictures at an early age—ten years old. I’m also a city kid and still love photographing locations here in my hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey. I hope you enjoy my images.  —Bruce Parker

Bio

Here I am in my cowboy suit during my first photo session. I was four years old and my Aunt Mary had taken me to the portrait studio in Macy’s department store on 34th Street. The huge studio camera, the lights, and all the excitement made a lasting impression on me.

By the time I was ten, I had begun learning photography from my Uncle Bobbie, a veteran newsreel cameraman with Fox Movietone (shown here with a legendary Ackley camera.) Like so many other photographers, I will always recall the first time I saw my own pictures magically appear in the little developer tray under the dim red light of the darkroom. At that point I was hooked.

When I was 14, my uncle landed me a part-time job with his close friend, William “Happy” Cheyne, at the Cheyne Studio in Hampton, Virginia.  This was a well-established portrait studio founded in the 19th century by Cheyne’s grandfather. I’m reminded of just how long ago I started in photography when I recall that the first thing Mr. Cheyne taught me back in 1961 was a time-honored method for making proofs for portrait customers using printing-out paper. This was done as it had been since photography’s earliest days—outdoors on a balcony built onto the back of the studio especially for the purpose. A slanted shelf facing the sun held a dozen or so contact printing frames, each of which contained a single negative and a sheet of printing-out paper. Quickly darkened by the bright sunlight, the photos required no developing and provided portrait customers just enough time to make their selection of “poses” before all the proofs began to turn dark. My job was to keep as many frames as possible in rotation while not allowing any of the pictures to get too dark. Mr. Cheyne also taught me many basics of studio photography, including the method for loading film holders I continue to use to this day. Mrs. Williams, a very demanding technician who headed the printing operation, first introduced me to working in a professional darkroom.

I worked for other photographers during my high school and college years, usually as a darkroom technician since Cheyne and others had instilled in me a great love for the craft of printing. In the 1970s, after finishing college, I owned a custom photo lab in New Jersey where I had many photographers as clients, some of whom became quite well-known including Joe Maloney, John Margolies, and Adam Bartos. I also did work for the LIGHT and Witkin galleries making copy negatives and press prints. I sold this business in 1980 and went back to school for a masters degree and then worked as an independent multimedia producer. In 1993 I was hired as Director of Communications for a theological seminary that had been one of my clients. After nearly twenty years, I retired from the General Seminary as a vice president in 2012. During my entire career, I remained devoted to my work as a creative photographer.

My husband Barry Signorelli and I have lived in Jersey City for more than thirty years. I’m fortunate to have what is for me a “dream” studio and darkroom here in the two family house we own. I’ve never had much interest in promoting my fine art photography and my career in media production and communications left little time for doing so. Now that I’m in my seventies, I remain committed to using most of the time that’s left to me to continue making new images.

Maybe I love the work of Czech photographers like František Drtikol, and Josef Sudek so much because my own ethnicity is strongly Eastern European. I’ve also been inspired by American photographers of the New Topographic movement, especially Stephen Shore and William Eggleston.

Please see the contact page for further information about my work, as well as the online gallery where I offer for sale the work of other photographers. Thanks again for visiting.

-Bruce Parker