At age 17, Stephen DiRado began his professional career working as a freelance photographer for a Boston suburb newspaper. With a focus in fine art photography, he attended the School of the Worcester Art Museum, studying with Irene Shwachman, and then onto Massachusetts College of Art studying with Nicholas Nixon. He graduated in 1981 with a BFA. Currently, he is teaching photography at Clark University in Worcester, MA, where he has been employed since 1984.

DiRado achieved recognition in 1984 for his series Bell Pond, this being the first of many social projects. The Mall Series, Beach People, Dinner Series, Jacob’s House, and Dad with Alzheimer’s all are long-term documentary projects that explore the structures and identities of communities, families, couples, and individuals.

Celestial, Jump and Environments are three series about DiRado’s acute observations relating, respectively, to the sublime. Celestial is ongoing and documents astronomical events. Environments is also ongoing and depicts the idealized ambience and drama found within architectural domains. Jump: 1999 to 2007, is a study of people in the midst of their leap of faith from a bridge into the waters of Martha’s Vineyard.