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Thomas A. McGuire, 54,
died Friday, May 9, 2003 after a courageous battle with cancer. He was an award-winning photographer, who traveled from Maine to the Caribbean with his family and friends, photographing countless amazing scenes. Capturing nature's unique beauty was his goal, and he attributed any success to "God creating the image" -- he would "just snap it." He focused on scenes of the Jersey Shore, and participated in many art shows throughout the state, where he was excited to share and display his work. He had a great love for photographing the New York City skyline from the air, sea and land. The devastation of the Sept. 11 attacks touched his soul, and the outcome, through his generous nature, was to donate any profits from photos of the skyline and World Trade Center Memorial Lights to the families of Sept. 11 victims and the New York Firefighter's Burn Center.
He graduated from Manhattan College in 1970, and earned a master's degree in business from Pace University in New York City. In 1970, he started working for New York Telephone, Manhattan, and retired from Verizon in 1996 in order to pursue his love of photography full time. He was a communicant of St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church, Atlantic Highlands. Born in the Bronx, he lived in Middletown for 30 years.
Thomas McGuire's work has developed into a family business which enables his family to continue to display and sell his work.
Background
Ever since I was a teenager and purchased my first 35mm rangefinder camera, I was fascinated by the idea of capturing on film a moment in time that could be preserved for posterity. For the next 30 years, I dabbled in the world of family and vacation snapshots -- strictly as a hobby. Occasionally, I would take my camera to Sandy Hook, to catch a sunrise, and to walk the beaches --- an opportunity to remove myself from the typical chores and stress of raising a family and commuting to Manhattan.
In the summer of 1991, at the urging of family & friends I began to sell some photos of Sandy Hook. I signed myself up for Art & Craft shows and turned my passion for photography into a part-time profession. Encouraged by the public's response to my work in the ensuing years, I took an early retirement offer from my NY job (finance) in December 1996 and now have the luxury of devoting all of my energy into my photography. I show my work at Art/Craft shows exclusively in New Jersey, from Hoboken to Cape May.
Philosophy & Goals
My philosophy is quite simple -- you don't have to travel beyond your backyard to experience the magnificence that our Creator bestows on us each day -- the rays from the sun, the texture of each cloud formation, the seasonal hues of the sugar maple or pin oak, the endless march of the ocean's waves, a shell on a dune, a gull on the beach -- it's all there for the taking!!
The Jersey Shore is such a treasure. My creative objective is to capture the essence of every town on the Shore from Sandy Hook to Cape May -- in photographs that pay tribute to the magnificence of this prized possession. My professional objective is to devote more time to what I consider the real "art" of photography --- black & white compositions, and printing large landscape compositions-- I believe that large photographs allow the viewer to better experience the breadth & depth of seascape photography. It wasn't until January 1997, when I developed my first large-format black & white negative, that I began to seriously apply myself to photography as an artform, through black & white compositions.
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