Gary Gellman, who for years has photographed presidents, corporate leaders and other VIPs, found himself on another big assignment not too long ago.
GARY GELLMAN New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (l) congratulates legendary baseball catcher Yogi Berra (c) and astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, upon their induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony was held on May 4 in Newark. When the New Jersey Hall of Fame held an induction ceremony of its first class at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark on May 4, Gellman, who grew up in Howell and now resides in Plumsted Township, was there with his camera to record the event for history.
His photographs of legends such as Yogi Berra, Buzz Aldrin, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Bruce Springsteen and many others will create a lasting legacy of this inaugural event for a new Garden State landmark.
An interactive, educational New Jersey Hall of Fame museum is being planned, but no site has been determined as of yet.
The inductees that evening were nurse, activist and humanitarian Clara Barton; inventor Thomas Edison; scientist Albert Einstein; astronaut Buzz Aldrin; businessman Malcolm Forbes; philanthropist Robert Wood Johnson II; entertainer Frank Sinatra; musician Bruce Springsteen; actress Meryl Streep; baseball player Yogi Berra; former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley; football coach Vince Lombardi; Nobel Prize- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author ToniMorrison; Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf; and abolitionist Harriet Tubman.
Gary Gellman (r) who has photographed hundreds of celebrities during the course of his career, moves in front of the camera for this picture with Bruce Springsteen. The star-studded event featured performances by Phoebe Snow, Joe Piscopo and Springsteen, who shared the stage with actor Danny DeVito, to the delight of the audience. Richie “La Bamba” Rosenberg and the Hubcaps accompanied Springsteen and played throughout the night.
Also in attendance were Gov. Jon Corzine, author Mary Higgins Clark, Frank Sinatra’s daughter Nancy Sinatra, and a host of others.
Gellman, a professional photographer and videographer, interviewed more than a dozen New Jersey celebrities from the red carpet and then photographed the induction ceremony.
He plans to feature the Hall of Fame photos in the coming weeks and months on his television show, “Let’s Talk With Gary Gellman.” The show is seen in more than 150 communities throughout New Jersey and in parts of Philadelphia on the Comcast and Cablevision cable television systems, and is also heard on three radio stations.
Comcast Network has just started running new episodes of the show.
“The event was unbelievable,” said Gellman. “To be in a facility with such great people from New Jersey was a memory many in attendance will never forget. This was not the first time I have photographed some of these individuals, but it was great to see them honored together.”
Gellman was allowed backstage to photograph the honorees with other honored guests.
“In my life I have told countless people to smile, but when I told Bruce Springsteen, that was cool,” he said.
Gellman said that as Springsteen was performing on the NJPAC stage, he (Gellman) looked at the singer’s mother, Adele, and noticed she was crying.
“I wondered why she had been crying, since she had likely seen her son perform all over the world,” Gellman said.
Gellman said that when he asked her about it later, she replied, “Today I’m celebrating my 83rd birthday and Bruce is being honored by New Jersey along with Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison. I’m very excited.”
“That moment meant so much to me,” Gellman said. “I got a better sense about what the eventmeant to him(Springsteen) and his family.”
Gellman Images, based in Howell, has covered events for Fortune 500 companies, professional sports figures, former governors and presidents in addition to local personalities and events and private parties since 1989.
Gellman has been featured on national and local television several times. His production “APresidential Visit to Our Hometown,” which chronicled President Bill Clinton’s 1996 visit to Freehold, was included in the U.S. Senate Gallery inWashington, D.C.
One of his photos of theNavesink River, taken from Navesink Harbor, Red Bank, was selected to be featured in the 2008 OceanFirst Bank calendar.
Gellman began his video production career at the age of 16 working at a public access television cable station in Monmouth County.
From 1985-89 he produced programming for Cable Television of New Jersey. In 1988 he worked in the programming department of New Jersey Network and in 1989 worked in the newsroom at WWORTV.
The Freehold Township High School graduate completed his broadcasting and journalismwork at The College ofNew Jersey, Ewing Township, and decided to return to his hometown ofHowell to base his video production and photography business.
He currently runs Gellman Images with his wife, Claire, who is the creative director, with the support of Michael Schiumo, video editor, and Dina Marciani, graphic designer, and several assistants.
The Gellmans are the parents of four daughters,Moira, 6, Kerianne, 5,Aileen, 2, and newborn Grace.
“I love my work,” Gellman said. “I look forward to meeting and photographing some of themost interesting people inMonmouth County. Being around people who have done so well who were nice enough to be interviewed by a kid from Howell is so exciting. I’ve been blessed with a wonderful and supportive community and family, and nomatter wheremy careermight take me, this community will never be forgotten.”