Bruce Stuart Roberts (February 4, 1930 – June 16, 2023) was an American photographer and author who began his career in the 1950s. He started out as a reporter but soon moved into photography and was part of the group of photojournalists at The Charlotte Observer who pioneered the use of the 35 mm format cameras. Over the years his work has appeared in Time, Life, Sports Illustrated, and Time Life Books. Roberts was also a prolific writer, both with his first wife, Nancy Roberts and his second wife Cheryl Shelton-Roberts.
From 1978 through 1992, he worked for Southern Living magazine, first as director of photography and later as senior travel photographer. Through his work as a photographer he has depicted such significant events as the civil rights movement in the 1960s and rural health initiatives in the 1970s. In later years much of his work has been spent photographing and documenting lighthouses, a subject he has shared through several books he has either co-authored or illustrations with photographs.
Roberts and his first wife had two children, Nancy and David. They divorced in the 1980s. Their son David was the subject of their collaborative book David chronicling their experiences of raising a son with Down syndrome. Their daughter Nancy is an attorney.
Early years
Bruce Stuart Roberts was born on February 4, 1930, in the Bronx adjacent New York suburb Mount Vernon. He became interested in photography around the age of 14, and delivered newspapers to earn money for his hobby. Roberts later recalled how his money went to buying the material he would need to take and develop photographs, creating his own darkroom in the basement and taught himself about photography. He later used his photography skills to pay for his Bachelor of Science degree from New York University, taking pictures at various events such as parties and board meetings. He graduated from New York University in 1951 and joined the US Air Force, serving from 1951 to 1953. After his stint in the Air Force Roberts attended the University of Florida where he completed his postgraduate studies in 1954.
Career
Following his postgraduate studies Roberts moved to North Carolina, taking a job as a photographer for the local Hamlet News-Messenger newspaper, in Hamlet, North Carolina, just south of Rockingham on the South Carolina border. During his early years in North Carolina his photos were published in national and international publications such as Life, Look, Time and the Saturday Evening Post. Many of his photos were used on the cover of The State magazine (now known as Our State). In 1958 he was hired as a staff photographer for The Charlotte Observer newspaper, working for editor Pete McKnight as part of a group of young up-and-coming photographers. The group of Charlotte Observer photographers would be among the first to use 35 mm photography in their work, and would later be credited with being pioneers of the 35 mm camera in photojournalism as well in as the use of natural light for their photos. In 1959 and 1961, Roberts was named "Southern Photographer of the Year" for his work with the Charlotte Observer. He also took first place in the National Press Photographers Association news pictures competition in 1959, 1960 and 1961. In 1962 Roberts took the position of Director of Photography for the News Journal paper in Wilmington, Delaware, where he remained until 1963. Over time he would also take photographs of various important historical figures of the time such as Reverend Billy Graham, Elvis Presley, John F. Kennedy and Joe DiMaggio.
In 1963 Roberts began to work as a freelance photographer instead of specifically for one newspaper. During this period he and his then-wife Nancy Roberts co-authored several books, including The Governor in 1972 and Goodliest Land in 1973. Later they wrote books about the supernatural, releasing books such as Ghosts and Specters: Ten Supernatural Stories in 1974 America's Most Haunted Places in 1976, and Southern Ghosts in 1979. Roberts' photographs also appeared in the children's book Where Time Stood Still: A Portrait of Appalachia, which was named by The New York Times as one of the best children's books of 1970.