A legacy in photographs: John Shishmanian retires from The Bulletin after 43 years

I have told many people in recent years that I would never retire.

I was wrong. I am retiring from The Bulletin at age 73 after 43 rewarding and exciting years of photographing Eastern Connecticut residents.

It is not bittersweet, as some say, as I am content with my decision, and look forward to the next chapter in my life. It is very likely to involve more travel and taking photos in some manner. It's in my blood.

My long career here started on July 17, 1979 when I was supposed to take photos for former Bulletin photographer, Jeff Evans, for just two weeks while he was away bicycling in Europe.

When he came back, I just arrived at work uninvited on Monday, eager to keep working, as I had fallen in love with the job. They were happy to see me, as there were plenty of assignments to photograph.

The Noyes and Oat families, who owned the newspaper at the time before Gannett, seemed to like my photography, and no one told me not to come in to work. Six months later I formally applied for the job. Times sure were different then.

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We had to develop our own Tri X 400 ASA black and white film on the opposite side of a revolving darkroom door. Boy Scout troops loved spinning around in that door more than their tours of the newsroom.

We started developing Kodachrome color photos for the front page in the mid 1980s. Thankfully, we are now all digital.

I estimate that I have taken just over 8 million photos over the years and had thousands of them published. I have worn out many camera bodies.

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I looked forward to going to work every day because every day was different.

My career included photographing seven past and present U.S. presidents and many celebrities, political figures and national and local events.

A short list of celebrities include Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr., The Beach Boys, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Neil Diamond and Elton John.

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Some politicians include U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, Rev. Jesse Jackson, U.S. Sen. John McCain, Gov. Ella Grasso, Gov. Lowell Weicker, Gov. John Rowland, Gov. Dannel Malloy, Gov. Ned Lamont, senator and vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman and so many other U.S. senators and congressmen over the years.

In sports, I’ve photographed Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Jim Rice, Richard Petty, Andre the Giant, Superfly Snuka, Derek Jeter, Ray Allen, David Ortiz, Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, to name just a few.

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I also covered a 1985 space shuttle launch and shared photos, with my wife's stories, from the former Soviet Union, China, Japan, Australia and European countries.

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And they paid me for this!

I photographed many operations at The William W. Backus Hospital and Windham Hospital over the years.

The most memorable was a natural childbirth at Backus. After arranging permission from a family at a Lamaze class, I was on call. They called me at 3:30 in the morning, and I entered through a back door with my temporary Backus badge and waited for the baby to be born. I will never forget being part of such an important time in that family's life.

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I remember the high winds from Hurricane Gloria in 1985 blowing my light Fiat sports car around as I looked for damage during the height of the storm. I saw a fallen tree on the Chelsea Parade Grounds in Norwich and could not open the driver's side door because of the wind. I crawled out the passenger's door and took my photos using the car for support so I would not get blown away.

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Good times.

In 1986, I and many other media people took an overnight sail from New London to New York City on the U.S. Coast Guard Barque Eagle ship. Many of the media got sick during the trip, but I had my box of crackers and kept an eye on the horizon and was fine.

CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite was on board for the 100th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty and I got to take a photo of the "most trusted newsman" in America.

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More recently I have written an occasional column, with photos, called Day in the Life. I enjoyed learning details of how average and not so average people did their jobs through my stories and photos. Some of the stories were a Norwich firefighter, a Plainfield K9 police officer, a paramedic, a race car family, a doctor, a baker, an 85-year-old car salesman, a tattooist and a Norwich dentist.

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I, of course, will miss my co-workers and the thousands of wonderful and interesting people I have met and photographed over the years.

I want to thank them for allowing me to make images of them and of their events and making my life richer. I especially want to thank The Bulletin and Gannett for giving me the opportunity to enjoy the best career I could have imagined.

If you see me in the future and I have a camera around my neck, say hello and give me your best smile.

This article originally appeared on The Bulletin: Norwich Bulletin photographer John Shishmanian retires