About Joe

GranpaJoe, as he was known to family, grew up in Buffalo, was raised by Polish parents and had an alcoholic physically abusive father, who he would later reconcile with. When I started living with him, he would tell stories of the Eskimos, of how simple a life they lived and tightknit their families were. He was argumentative, loud, and sometimes without a filter, which depending on the day could be good or bad. Ultimately, he was able to reflect these traits through his camera and capture glimpses of the world that reflected back optimism.

November 3, 1933 - May 14, 2021

Joe's interest in photography began when he was a teenager, and around that time he ran away from home and moved to New York City. In his 20's he enlisted into the Air force and was stationed in Alaska where he said it got so cold sometimes below 40°F that when it was 0°F they would go outside in t-shirts and play basketball.

After the Air Force he came back to New York and worked as a freelancer for newspapers and magazines.

As he got older he would become the super of the building he was living in, using another apartment as a studio to photograph actors and actresses from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. By the time I was born, he more or less retired from professional photography, except for the occasional gig and routine contributions to billiards digest.

Something he had done since its first inception in the late 70's up until a year before his death at tournaments like the Verhoeven Open, Predator 14.1, and Sang Lee Open.