ON PHOTOGRAPHING A GENERATION OF GLOUCESTER FISHERMEN
NUBAR ALEXANIAN DOCUMENTS THE DYING ART OF EAST COAST FISHING
June 7, 2016
By Rachel Cobb
Rachel Cobb: How did you fall into documenting these fishermen?
Nubar Alexanian: I moved to Gloucester from Boston in 1971. I was teaching photography and having shows, and that was getting a little boring. I wanted to start doing magazine work and learn how to do photo essays, so I decided to find the most successful fishing family, at least in Gloucester, if not on the East coast, and follow them. That turned out to be the Brancaleone family. They had two boats. They were the boats that everyone else wanted to know where they were fishing. I followed them for about a year and a half and went on four ten-day trips to Georgia’s Bank.
I have a middle ear balance problem and get seasick very easily. After the first trip, when my wife came to pick me up, I had lost 20 pounds. She just drove right by me. Every time I would tell the Brancaleone family I needed to go again, they were just incredulous. It was painful for them to see me so seasick. So they were like… No! But they always agreed. When I sold the story to Geo, the magazine asked me to go on one more trip—a winter trip (which are really bad). But when you’re working on something and it has you, you just have to keep up with it.
READ THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW AND SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE
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Good Morning Gloucester 