I spent my childhood in Rochester, New York, the home of Eastman Kodak. My mother worked at Kodak for a short while assembling cameras, and one day she brought home my first camera, a Brownie Hawkeye. I still remember how that camera felt in my hands. I was hooked. In 1954, I purchased my first serious camera, a Pratika FX.

I think I have always been a photographer at heart, but for reasons I cannot explain, life’s little adventures took me away from photography and off in other directions. However, the visual arts have always been a part of my working history.

I owned an art gallery in Rochester and introduced artists, with many one-person shows, to the public. I produced, directed and choreographed five multi-media performing arts shows – the last one in Perth, Australia. I also produced two art films for public television stations--one in Rochester, New York, and the other in Perth, Australia. In the 1980’s I produced and coordinated “The Bare Grays," an art calendar, that won two design awards, of men over 50.I owned a retail establishment in Philadelphia called Pacific Rim for 13 years, and traveled to Asia to collect primitive art and handicrafts in such places as Borneo and New Guinea

And so I’ve come full circle—back to photography. I truly enjoy portrait and event photography. My photographs are based on the drama of shadow and soft light, and I prefer to print in shades of sepia. Shooting in the studio is my preference; it’s where I have more control with light to bring more nuance to the subject and to let the image tell the story.
My current projects are a series of portraits: the elderly, the homeless, and disabled veterans. I am a veteran Army paratrooper, and I hope to help shed light on the problems encountered by our soldiers seeking medical care.

I’ve traveled widely—to more than 50 countries including most of Europe, six countries in Africa, all over Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran. Also, I have visited Turkey, Russia, Yugoslavia, and Australia. I’ve had guns pointed at me in Uganda. I learned to paint Buddha from monks in India. I also went down the Nile in a riverboat, traveled by Dhow, hitchhiked through Kenya, and stayed at ashrams. I went from New York city to Santa Cruz Calfornia solo on a bicycle, for what ever that s worth.

Recently, I was the official event photographer for the Richard Osbourne Gala and Danny DeVito event at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

We were all children once. And then we grew old. And each day has etched itself into our minds, our bodies, and our spirits.

Bruce Kravetz