Spring Break
Lonely photos of tavern regulars earn student recognition
By: Elisa Bermudez
Issue date: 3/4/05 Section: Entertainment
Originally published: 3/4/05 at 11:10 AM EST
Last update: 3/4/05 at 11:13 AM EST
Originally published: 3/4/05 at 11:10 AM EST
Last update: 3/4/05 at 11:13 AM EST
Last summer, I saw Robert's picture for the first time in a Drexel Daily Digest. He was seated at the bar in McGlinchy's, one of Philadelphia's oldest taverns. He looked so familiar that for a moment I thought he was an actor. I saw him again not long ago, sitting at the same place and wearing the same outfit.
I was interviewing Sarah Stolfa, 30, a senior majoring in Photography. She took Robert's picture, along with other color portraits for a series called "The Regulars." Last year, she submitted the series to the New York Times Magazine Contest and won.
The multi-talented photographer fell in love with her career relatively recently. Before, she played the keyboard in a punk rock band called Delta 72. Her answers are serious but not without a sense of humor. She said she graduated from high school a year early and took off from home to play in bands. Later, she joined Delta 72, moved to Philadelphia and after personal problems with the band she separated from the group. It was, however, through one of the members of the band that she got her job at McGlinchy's, the place that would later become her own "studio" for the work that earned her the Times award.
After leaving Delta 72, Stolfa held a couple restaurant jobs, but she was still bored in the City of Brotherly Love. Not knowing what to do, she thought it was a good time to go back to school, but she did not know what to study. She always liked the arts, so she enrolled in the Associate Degree Photography Program at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
"I absolutely love it," she said. "I think [photography] felt like everything in my life."
The more she learned, the quicker she fell for it. Some time went by and, as Stolfa said, she wanted to obtain a more grounded education. With this in mind, she transferred to Drexel and she liked it!
When asked what she likes about Drexel, she immediately responds, "My teachers," then adds that she also likes the photo facilities and history courses. For Stolfa the Drexel experience has been, "priceless." In fact, it was photography professor, Stuart Rome, that encouraged Stolfa to enter the New York Times Magazine Contest.
I was interviewing Sarah Stolfa, 30, a senior majoring in Photography. She took Robert's picture, along with other color portraits for a series called "The Regulars." Last year, she submitted the series to the New York Times Magazine Contest and won.
The multi-talented photographer fell in love with her career relatively recently. Before, she played the keyboard in a punk rock band called Delta 72. Her answers are serious but not without a sense of humor. She said she graduated from high school a year early and took off from home to play in bands. Later, she joined Delta 72, moved to Philadelphia and after personal problems with the band she separated from the group. It was, however, through one of the members of the band that she got her job at McGlinchy's, the place that would later become her own "studio" for the work that earned her the Times award.
After leaving Delta 72, Stolfa held a couple restaurant jobs, but she was still bored in the City of Brotherly Love. Not knowing what to do, she thought it was a good time to go back to school, but she did not know what to study. She always liked the arts, so she enrolled in the Associate Degree Photography Program at the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
"I absolutely love it," she said. "I think [photography] felt like everything in my life."
The more she learned, the quicker she fell for it. Some time went by and, as Stolfa said, she wanted to obtain a more grounded education. With this in mind, she transferred to Drexel and she liked it!
When asked what she likes about Drexel, she immediately responds, "My teachers," then adds that she also likes the photo facilities and history courses. For Stolfa the Drexel experience has been, "priceless." In fact, it was photography professor, Stuart Rome, that encouraged Stolfa to enter the New York Times Magazine Contest.
