Background on Nancy Palmieri
After graduating with a degree in journalism from Utica College in 1977, Nancy Palmieri took a position as a local city beat reporter for the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, doing both deadline work and non-deadline features, while supplying the photographs to illustrate her writing. Soon enough, photography became the center of her work.
Having honed her skills through study at the New England School of Photography (1979-1981), Palmieri accepted a new position as staff photographer with the Springfield Republican. As part of team of shooters, she covered the gamut from the daily beat to feature assignments, garnering some attention for her work. In 1984, she was awarded first prize in the animal category in an annual competition sponsored by the Boston Press Photographers Association and took home two prizes that year in the spot news category.
Palmieri spent the better part of the decade beginning in 1987 shuttling back and forth between New England and California. For four years (1987-1991), she served as staff photographer for the Antioch Daily Ledger in the Bay Area, working on assignment and developing her own story ideas, and she taught photography classes as an adjunct in journalism at San Francisco State University. Moving back the New England, she spent two years with the Providence Journal, then shifted professional course as well as location, when she relocated to Los Angeles to become a photo editor for the Associated Press. Her role there, considerably expanded over work with a single paper, involved assigning photographers to jobs in southern California and working with media organizations throughout the western region.
In 1998, Palmieri again returned to New England and settled in Northampton, Mass., establishing a successful freelance practice. Her impressive list of clients included contacts in both new and old media, ranging from the Boston Globe, New York Times, and Los Angeles Times to local institutions such as Jacob's Pillow, UMass Amherst, and Smith College. She was equally diverse in the subject matter she covered, from news events, political campaigns, and demonstrations to food, human interest stories, travel and lifestyle, and sport. After a battle with cancer, Palmieri died in July 2016.