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Image by O'Brien Selected for Mayor's Holiday Card

Noted Branford photographer Bill O'Brien has loaned his talent to many local groups and organizations through the years. That list now includes the City of New Haven, as Mayor Toni Harp has tapped O'Brien's image of City Hall for her 2016 Holiday Greeting Card.

The iconic entrance of New Haven's City Hall, which first opened its Gothic brownstone doors in 1861, is festooned with holiday greenery in O'Brien's winning photo.

A New Haven native who moved to Branford in 1969, O'Brien remains a familiar face in the city due to his commercial banking career in New Haven (he retired in 2005) and involvement with many New Haven-based programs. Among them, he's served as president and the Walter Camp Football Foundation, chaired the New Haven Road Race and Greater New Haven United Way and, in 1994, was honored as Grand Marshal of New Haven's St. Patrick's Day Parade. O'Brien also served on the Board of Directors of Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and the Quinnipiac University Board of Trustees.  In Branford, O'Brien is active with many, many community-based committees, organizations and service groups. He's been recognized for organizing the successful model for the annual Branford Festival and is a member of Branford's Sports Hall of Fame, among his many local accolades. He was honored as a 2015 Beacon Award winning by Shore Publishing for his community involvement and is also a past Person of the Week featured in The Sound.

O'Brien's New Haven connections still bring him back the city, where his photographer's eye was stopped by the doors of City Hall. He grabbed the winning Mayor's Holiday Card image in passing, with just a few bracketed shots to get the lighting right.

"I was out one day and saw the door, and I liked the whole holiday spirit of the thing," said O'Brien. "Doors are interesting to me; either because of light or color or something hanging on them."

O'Brien said he doesn't often enter contests, but decided to submit the photo with six others he'd taken in New Haven. They included a rare shot from atop East Rock in winter and several holiday season sights centered in the area of the New Haven green.

All photographers' entries were culled down a final few and then Mayor Harp personally selected the image for her card. Selecting the winner was no easy matter, said contest organizer Suzan Shutan, Art Consultant for CT & Region.

In a letter sent to finalists notifying of O'Brien's photo as this year's selection, Shutan noted, "...I must say, we had a tight competition with so many great images that would have made beautiful cards."

"It was an honor to be chosen," said O'Brien, who learned he was selected in November. "I grew up in New Haven, where I got married, and worked in New Haven most of my life. So it's an exciting moment for me."

A number of O'Brien's other photos with the city or its surrounds as the subject are on display in New Haven buildings and locales, including some which can be found at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

O'Brien said he enjoys photography and finds it a rewarding way to connect with his community, family and friends.

"Frankly, I didn't expect I would get involved in photography," said O'Brien. "My father painted in oils, but I couldn't draw a straight line!"

O'Brien said he started out taking sports photos out of necessity "years ago," when the former Branford Review weekly newspaper couldn't supply a photographer for a Friday night.

"They only had a photographer on Tuesday afternoons, but they said I could take my own pictures and submit them. That's how I got started – one thing led to another," said O'Brien. "A lot of people in retirement have nothing to do. I'm very fortunate, because I can combine my interests with photography. In sports, I've been on the sidelines for years. Now, I'm taking photos of my grandsons' games!"