Bert Gallery

Photographer

Carmel Vitullo was born in Providence, Rhode Island on July 16, 1925, and grew up in the small Italian community of Federal Hill. After graduating from Classical High School she attended the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and majored in painting. She went on to pursue her other passion, photography. Carmel studied at the New York Institute of Photography and became enthralled by the work of Henri Cartier Brisson and learned the artistic importance of space and time. Her work was first displayed in “The Family of Man” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York. Two of her photographs from the first Newport Jazz Festival remain in MOMA’s permanent collection.

Carmel captured a variety of people, neighborhoods, and events on film during her career as a photographer. The people and places in Carmel’s work no longer appear as they once did; however, through her photography she has immortalized their historic beauty and importance. The exhibit, A Woman Behind the Lens, will include images from her native state, including historic Federal Hill, the first Newport Jazz Festival, downtown Providence, and Block Island.