May 21, 2015 — When Nubar Alexanian started visiting Gloucester in 1971 as a young man of 21, the harbor bustled with fishing vessels that hauled in millions of pounds a fish a day. He captured the hive of activity among the Gloucester-based fleet from onshore and on extended trips offshore.
The Worcester-born photographer soon made the nation’s oldest seaport his home, immersing himself into the cornucopia of Gloucester life and landscape.
Spanning more than 40 years, his vast collection of images is part of the new exhibition “When The Fish Came First,” which opens May 28 at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck in Gloucester. Some of these photographs have never been publicly exhibited.
“We hope you will join us for this rare view of Gloucester’s fishing culture in a time of change and through the lens of a master photographer,” said Karen Ristuben, president of the Rocky Neck Art Colony. “This is a watershed one-person exhibition that should not be missed. It is the most comprehensive contemporary document of commercial fishing in New England before its steep decline.”
The show includes a series of color photographs originally published in GEO magazine in 1981 and never before exhibited. In the 1970s, Alexanian accompanied the Brancaleone family of Gloucester on four ten-day trips to Georges Bank aboard the Joseph & Lucia II over the course of 18 months.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Daily Times