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meadville tribune

“I saw this fireman with his uniform on and I said ‘Don’t be alarmed if I get beside you when the (hearse) comes by. I want to take a picture,’ ” photographer Jim Stefanucci recalls as he describes how he went about taking a picture at a funeral for a former Meadville fire chief in 1995. It is one of the hundreds of important pictures he has taken over the last 20 years for The Meadville Tribune. 

“When the (hearse) came by I stood where I could see the fire station and the hearse (together). I framed it with his salute. In my mind, it was kind of like a final farewell to the fire chief.”

Click here for audio of former

Trib photographer Harmony Motter talking about Jim

This picture and many others are now featured in a look at Jim’s career to date at the Trib. It’s on our Web site and includes audio of Jim discussing several other photographs and his philosophy of covering the news.

“Once a picture runs, it affects more than just the people viewing it, it affects the people in the picture and their family members,” he says. Jim knows that a newspaper photograph can sit around for days for readers to see again, impacting them over and over. His concern is for the subjects he photographs. “Could it be shot in a way the public will know what is going on, to show the emotion of the scene without causing more pain to the family or the subject in the picture? How important is that picture? Can it be shot a different way?”

Jim’s trusting and caring eye has been the hallmark for the type of photography the Tribune is known for throughout the state of Pennsylvania. Photographers from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh know the Tribune from the years when Jim was among the top five or 10 photojournalists in the Pennsylvania Press Photographers Association, winning award after award.

Jim’s documentary approach to telling the news and showing the life of Crawford Countians gives our readers something more than just a simple account; he seeks to be a mirror into our lives, to record the essence of who we are. He took a paper that showcased politicians giving awards to showcasing the award-winner doing what they do to make the community a better place. He showed the life behind the recognition, not the posed and stiff moment of the staged recognition ceremony. 

“Instead of a line-up inside someone’s office for a check passing, why not show what the money is being used for or why the award is being given?” Jim asks this question every time the phone rings with a request to take a picture.

see Jim's 2007 favorites


This approach has not only helped us understand our neighbors better, it has won many awards.

Jim doesn’t dismiss the awards, he’s proud of them, but he does understand that that’s not why he is here doing what he does.

“A picture lasts forever,” Jim says. He believes photographs are historical documents; they are the truth. The awards just expose the stories to a broader audience.

Jim’s work comes from his ability of being a quiet observer, always wanting to be a non-factor while he records an event or situation.

His photographs show life without the interference of the media, a very difficult thing to accomplish since he has to be present to get the images.

Click here to see a powerful slideshow from a POW/MIA vigil


Some of Jim’s favorite and best work is now showcased on our Web site in a look back at his 20 years at the Tribune. He documents tragedy by showing it as tragic, shows humor when something is funny and shows “quiet” when something is just as it is when he found it — Jim does not try to make something into something it is not.

This is the strongest and most important role a journalist plays in documenting the community, showcasing who we are as a people. Jim’s work continues to do this every day at the paper, even after 20 years.

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A great photographer, and even better man.

by Richard Sayer



I began working at the paper in 1997 when Jim hired me as a part-time photographer.

He is an incredible teacher, guiding rough-around-the-edges people like me and numbers of others who have worked here as photographers and interns — gently encouraging us to improve.

He has taken several photographers for a summer, or for a year or two, and given them the tools to move on and work at other papers in bigger markets.

Jim came to a community newspaper and elevated it by the way he saw pictures and told stories with them. He took a paper that made snapshots, often set up groups of people holding awards and shaking hands with politicians wanting recognition themselves, to showing why and how the people of the county achieve what they do to warrant such recognition.

Click here to see a rapid fire slideshow of a water tower coming down in 2008


Jim did this, at first alone, then hired others to carry this same voice and commitment to the community.

This is not an easy approach. It is far easier a task to find out after the fact, contacting those involved and lining them up against a blank wall, snapping a picture and getting their names from left to right. It is far more difficult to go to a scene, assess what the story is, try to find the right angle to tell that story, and do so without becoming too intrusive to disrupt the story. It is even harder to record the action that best shows what the story is, then try to track down the people to get their names and figure out a way to identify them later in the right order for a caption. But Jim willingly made his job more difficult in order to be a better journalist and documenter of life in Crawford County.

Maybe what I like best about Jim’s photographs is how he is a quiet observer of life.

He doesn’t like to be acknowledged, he wants his presence to be a non-factor while he records an event or situation. He separates himself from interfering or having his subject aware of him better than anyone I know.

In a profession where intrusion is necessary, Jim’s photographs, when they are at their best, appear as if he weren’t even there.

Jim is also the most ethical person I know, always questioning what photograph to use, often not picking a picture that to the casual observer might be a better photograph because it doesn’t quite get the story right — instead going for accuracy and dedication to the story. 

He is great photographer, but more importantly, he is an even better man.

What Jim Stefanucci has done for the readers of The Meadville Tribune over the last 20 years is a true gift. He has a beautiful eye and a true community-first heart.

I hope he keeps doing this for another 20 years.



Sayer has worked at the Tribune since 1997.