Photographer stepping down after 14 years on the job
With his big Nikon camera and crisp Midwestern accent, Art Miller has long been a fixture at events in Graham County, shooting photographs for The Graham Star.
Miller, 68, will retire at the end of the month, after 14 years total with the Star and approximately 25 years total in the newspaper business. Miller first worked as a circulation district manager at the St. Petersburg Times in St. Petersburg, Fla. From 1988-99 before moving to Graham County.
“My district had a circulation of approximately 15,000 papers every single day,” Miller said. “I believe at the time the St. Petersburg Times’ total circulation was around 300,000, a very highly-read newspaper. You know, they only print two days a week now.”
In 1999, Miller and his wife moved to Graham County.
“I bought a piece of property here and I wanted to build my own house, so I lived in a tent with my wife, Mariann, and we started building my house,” Miller said. “It took us nine years to do it. I worked different jobs. We didn’t have enough money to build the house when we started.”
Miller said that eventually, they graduated from the tent to a mobile home donated by a neighbor.
However, even with the upgrade, life for the couple wasn’t always comfortable.
“It worked, but there were times in the winter when we’d wake up and the drapes would be frozen to the window,” Miller said.
It was near the end of the construction that Miller first came to work at the Star, first coming on temporarily.
“In 2007, my wife was working as an ad rep at The Graham Star, and she came to me, and said ‘We need help. The circulation guy quit,’” Miller recalled.
What was supposed to be a temporary gig ended up lasting 14 years.
In 2017, under former Graham Star Editor Gary Corsair, Miller made the switch from working in circulation to serving as the paper’s staff photographer.
“I’ve been taking photographs all my life,” Miller said. “I still have my first little Brownie camera from when I was a little kid.”
Before becoming the Star’s staff photographer, Miller had never shot for a newspaper before, although he had taken some pictures for calendars and advertisements as a young man in his native Illinois.
In his time at the Star, Miller has taken home two first-place awards from the N.C. Press Association: one documenting a school bus accident and the other a picture of the U.S. flag flying at Fontana Village during the Aug. 21, 2017 solar eclipse.
“I got down in the creek with the log, and took a picture of the log and the bus down in the creek,” Miller said of the bus accident.
Miller cited his advancing age as the main factor driving his decision to step down.
“I love this job,” Miller said. “I love being with the community. It’s just a fun job.”
He said that although he couldn’t pick out one photo or assignment in particular as his favorite, he enjoyed taking pictures of children and school events.
“I love taking photos documenting people’s lives,” Miller said. “I know it seems corny, but graduations and stuff at the high school is fun, seeing the kids kind of reminding you of when you were still in high school 50 years ago.”
Miller plans to travel in a camper he and his wife recently purchased, including trips to Florida to visit family and trips to New Orleans, which Miller said was his favorite place that he had the opportunity to visit.
He also mentioned a desire to take a trip out west.
“I want to thank (the community) for sharing and being open with me,” Miller said. “The camera’s got so much power.”