Photo studio celebrates 60 years Sirabella made his mark with film, but also uses computers now

BREWER – Photographer Mario “Lee” Sirabella’s first look into his life’s work happened when he was a young boy experimenting with red proofs, which are coated sheets of paper placed in a frame with a negative and left in the sun to develop.

The art of photography has changed tremendously since that time, the 84-year-old Brewer resident said recently. He has operated Sirabella Photography for six decades, mostly on Washington Street, and is hosting an open house, by appointment, that he is calling “60 years plus – photography from chemical to electronic imaging” to celebrate the studio’s 60th anniversary.

“I can’t believe it’s been 60 years that I’ve been doing this,” Sirabella said recently. “You do one year at a time, and all of a sudden it’s been 60 years.”

During those six decades, Sirabella has tried to stay ahead of modern photography technology and now is dabbling with image manipulation and photo restoration using computers. His studio was the first in the area to have projected screens for backdrops and to use rolled film, he said.

Those who step into the Washington Street studio will immediately notice the huge Vignette camera, approximately 2 feet by 2.5 feet, that sits in the corner of the lobby area.

The antique wooden camera is the one Sirabella used when he started his photography business back in September 1945, after serving as a photographer with the Army Air Corps during World War II.

“I really didn’t want to get into photography; it was just a hobby for me,” he said, commenting while sitting in his studio about how he was assigned to take photos for the Air Corps. “I wanted to be a pilot. I probably would not be here if I passed my eye exam.”

While serving with the Air Corps, now the U.S. Air Force, Sirabella, originally from New York, met and married his wife, Stella, and started a family in Bangor.

“I decided I wanted to stay here” after leaving military service, he said. “I started doing pictures in people’s homes. My wife would set up the schedule. I did the processing in the bathroom and put the photos on the floor.”

After a kitten made dinner out of a few of the photos, Sirabella decided it was time for a studio, which he operated on Central Street in Bangor until he was recalled by the military to serve for 21 months during the Korean War. After returning from Korea in 1951, he stayed in Bangor until 1954, when he moved to Brewer into the Washington Street studio, a converted 1865 home.

“I used to do mostly children because I like to work with children,” the great-grandfather said while giving a tour of his studio, which is adorned with numerous photos of children dating back several decades according to their attire. “This [little girl] is probably a grandmother,” he said, pointing to one portrait of a cute blond girl with curls in a sweater that is missing a button.

When color photos first appeared, Sirabella, who is partially color-blind, had to rely on his wife’s eyes to determine if the color was correct. Soon after, he decided it was easier just to send his color film to a developer.

Just as photography has changed, so have Sirabella’s passions.

“I like doing restoration work now fixing photographs,” he said.

Before computers, Sirabella used a pencil tip or needle to remove blemishes or wrinkles or a knife to “shave off silver” used years ago in processing photographs, a process that was tedious.

“I spent hours doing that,” he said. “Now I use a computer, which I love. It’s the best thing that ever happened.”

His love of film keeps him away from using digital cameras, which he admits “all professionals are switching to,” but added he does digitalize photos while doing his restoration work.

In addition, Sirabella teaches photography and computer digital art to others at the Hammond Street Senior Center on Thursdays and spends hours creating his own computer-altered abstract art.

Back in the 1920s, when Sirabella was a young boy and photography was in its infancy, photos were rare because families usually had them taken only on special occasions.

“I only have one or two pictures of myself” as a child, he said. “Now [people] take hundreds.”

With the advances in photography and the availability of inexpensive cameras, both digital and film, most households have a camera, which has reduced the number of hours Sirabella spends in his studio – a fact that is perfectly fine with the lifelong photographer.

“I’ve done so many people, no matter where I go people always tell me I took their picture when they were little,” he said.