STEPHEN DIRADO

(American, b. 1957)

Stephen DiRado is a documentary photographer, filmmaker, and educator born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1957. Influenced by his father, a graphic artist by trade, DiRado pursued the arts, teaching himself photography and beginning a journalism career at age sixteen. In 1981 he earned a B.F.A. from Massachusetts College of Art, and in 1982 joined the faculty at Clark University where he currently serves as professor in the Visual and Performing Arts Department.

A master technician of the large-format view camera, DiRado has spent his career documenting the people in his community, capturing both the intimacy of individuals and the dynamics within group interactions. He has recorded the people of numerous locales, notably Bell Pond and The Worcester Galleria in Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as a decades-long project documenting the beaches and people of Martha’s Vineyard, capturing intimate, soulful moments of island life.

DiRado has also followed and recorded the lives of his friends and fellow artists, including John O’Reilly and Jim Tellin, and Jacob Knight. Beginning in the late 1980s, DiRado documented his father's struggle with Alzheimer's, resulting in the poignant project, With Dad. An eponymous film directed by Soren Sorensen was released in 2021, garnering seven national awards including Best Documentary Short at the New York City Independent Film Festival and the Massachusetts Film Festival, and the Golden Remi Award for Documentary Short Subject in the Houston international Film Festival. With Dad aired on Public Broadcasting Stations in the fall of 2021, including WGBH Boston.

Stephen DiRado has received numerous grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, The National Endowment for the Arts, and is a 2012 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. His photographs are held in numerous collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, New York, the Harry Ransom Research Center, Austin, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Currier Museum, Manchester, New Hampshire, the Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts, among others. His work has also been featured and reviewed nationally in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Vice Magazine, National Geographic, National Public Radio, and most recently, The New Yorker.

STEPHEN DIRADO, Freddie and Theresa, Summer, 1983 (from the series Bell Pond)
14 x 18 inches | 35.56 x 45.72 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Cheryl, Jamie, and Michael, Summer, 1983 (from the series Bell Pond)
14 x 18 inches | 35.56 x 45.72 cm.
Gelatin silver print, printed later

STEPHEN DIRADO, Clark University, Worcester, MA., November 17, 2010 (from Classroom Series) 40 x 50 inches | 101.6 x 127 cm.
Archival pigment print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Harold and Rebecca, Aquinnah, MA, August 13, 2011 (from the series Beach)
40 x 50 inches | 101.6 x 127 cm.
Archival pigment print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Police Security, Worcester, MA., July 19, 1986 (from Mall Series)
18 x 14 inches | 45.72 x 35.56 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Venus, Worcester, MA., June 15, 1986 (from Mall Series)
18 x 14 inches | 45.72 x 35.56 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Lights Out, Chilmark, MA., July 5, 1998 (from Dinner Series)
18 x 22 inches |45.72 x 55.88 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Lucinda, Pauly, Jocelyn and Catherine, Gay Head, MA., August 11, 1991 (from the series Beach)
8 x 10 inches | 20.32 x 25.4 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Edgartown, MA., August 7, 2006 (from the series JUMP)
22 x 18 inches | 55.88 x 45.72 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Ann and Noel, Gay Head, MA., July 28 ,1996 (from the series Beach)
8 x 10 inches | 20.32 x 25.4 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Jamie, Clark University, Worcester, MA, February 24, 2010 (from Classroom Series)
8 x 10 inches | 20.32 x 25.4 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Joe and Doreen, Gay Head, MA, August 13, 1995 (from the series Beach)
8 x 10 inches | 20.32 x 25.4 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Gee, Worcester, MA, June 16, 2023
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Edgartown, MA., August 15, 2005 (from the series JUMP)
22 x 18 inches | 55.88 x 45.72 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Comet Hale-Bopp, Oak Bluffs, MA., 4:30am, EST, March 9, 1997
15 x 22 inches | 38.1 x 55.88 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Abigail, Aquinnah, MA, August 14, 2018 (from the series Beach Portraits)
10 x 8 inches | 50.8 x 55.88 cm.
Gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Printmaking, Clark University, Worcester, MA, February 7, 2011 (from Classroom Series)
8 x 10 inches | 20.32 x 25.4 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Bill and Ronnie, Gay Head, MA., July 20, 1997 (from the series Beach)
8 x 10 inches | 20.32 x 25.4 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Three Teens, Worcester, MA., 1986 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Nancy, James, and Gina, Worcester, MA., December 14, 1985 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Nancy and Johanna, Day Before Madonna Came to Town, Worcester, MA., June 1, 1985 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Gogi, Worcester, MA., November 3, 1983 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Couple Behind Phone, Worcester, MA., July 19, 1986 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Kim and Julie, Saturday Evening, Worcester, MA., February 20, 1985 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Diane, Thursday Afternoon, Worcester, MA., July 5, 1984 (from Mall Series)
10 x 8 inches | 25.4 x 20.32 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print

STEPHEN DIRADO, Bob and Tammy, Worcester, MA., Summer, 1983 (from the series Bell Pond)
9 7/8 x 12 5/8 inches | 25.08 x 32.06 cm.
Vintage gelatin silver print