Lawrenceville-based news photographer/videographer Brian McCarthy died after a brief hospital stay on Nov. 28, 2023. He was 75.
MidJersey.News, one of McCarthy’s clients, reports that “in a career that spanned nearly 50 years, Brian photographed presidents and politicians, Hollywood actors and rock stars, race car drivers and athletes. He photographed combat overseas and peaceful protests closer to home. He photographed community events, charity fundraisers and parades.
“But he was best known for his photos and videos showing the work of firefighters, police, emergency medical professionals, the military, and other first responders in the Mercer County area. Brian responded to fires, crashes, crimes, and other breaking news incidents not because he wanted to exploit such tragedies. Instead, he did so because – through his camera lens – he wanted to document the positive things that emergency services personnel do day in and day out. He wanted the public to see the heroism and humanity of first responders in the face of such horrors.
“For this work, Brian earned the respect of many in the emergency services community. “
McCarthy was born in Boston and moved to New Jersey in 1960 when his father was hired as a freshman football coach at Princeton University.
On his Facebook page, the photographer known for wearing a dark bush hat describes himself as a photojournalist at United Press International (UPI) and a freelance photojournalist. He also notes that he studied advertising design and photography at Mercer County Community College.
MidJersey adds in addition to a longtime freelancer for the Times of Trenton and the Trentonian and other publications, including U.S. 1, McCarthy “was also a publisher in his own right, having printed various community news publications over the years. In the digital age, his work has appeared all over Facebook and YouTube.”
In addition to taking photographs for U.S. 1, McCarthy also worked for many years as a deliverer for both U.S. 1 and its sister paper, the West Windsor & Plainsboro News.
