Photo exhibit traces career of Bruce Roberts

A 1960 sit-in at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Charlotte; Richard Petty and Miss Winston celebrating a mid-1970s victory at North Wilkesboro Speedway; destruction at Kitty Hawk following the March 1962 Ash Wednesday Storm — these are just some of the photographs featured in a new exhibit at the Outer Banks History Center.

“Bruce Roberts Photojournalist: 50 Years of Capturing Change” will be on display in the History Center Gallery March 5 through Dec. 31. An opening reception will be held Friday, March 5, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

New York native Bruce Roberts began his love of photography as a teenager when he set up a makeshift darkroom in his family’s basement. After graduating from New York University and serving two years in the U.S. Air Force, he came to North Carolina to take photographs for the Hamlet News-Messenger.

Roberts’ photographs appeared in national publications, including Life, Look, Time and the Saturday Evening Post. He also contributed many cover photographs to The State magazine, now known as Our State. In 1958, venerable editor Pete McKnight hired Bruce Roberts at the Charlotte Observer, where he became part of a legendary team of young and talented photographers who pioneered the use of 35-millimeter cameras in photojournalism.

Roberts has written or had his photographs published in more than 50 books, most recently “Just Yesterday: North Carolina People and Places” (North Carolina Office of Archives and History, 2008).

His accolades are numerous – twice named Southern Photographer of the Year, three-time winner of the National Press Photographers Association News Photographers competition and notably, he was named the first recipient of the Carl Goerch Award, designed to honor those who embodied the curious, energetic and appreciative spirit of Our State magazine’s founder.

“Bruce Roberts Photojournalist: 50 Years of Capturing Change,” sponsored by Our State magazine, features black and white and color images of Roberts’ work and includes topics such as desegregation, commercial fishing, changing rural landscapes and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The exhibit is made possible though support from the Frank Stick Memorial Fund of the Outer Banks Community Foundation and Our State magazine.

The Outer Banks History Center is a regional archives and research library administered by the N.C. State Archives. It is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, www.ncculture.com www.ncculture.com. The Outer Banks History Center Gallery is located in Manteo at Roanoke Island Festival Park. For additional information call 252-473-2655.

Submitted by the Outer Banks History Center

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