#Arts: Ralph De Palma: Photographer of the Music Stars

#Arts: Ralph De Palma: Photographer of the Music Stars - A person sitting on a bench - Paul Cotton

Born in Clarksburg, West Virginia and raised in North Western Ohio, Ralph De Palma has become an amazing photographer. He has the uncanny ability to freeze any moment at just the right time. One of his specialties is photographing the talente musicians in Key West. But it’s been a long and winding road to get to this point.

In 1969, Ralph toured Florida’s East Coast from Jacksonville Beach to Key West and fell in love with Florida. He went back to Ohio, packed his things and moved to Miami.

Ralph graduated from Florida International University School of Business with a minor in IT. He took on jobs in technology aviation and software development.

In 1985, Ralph took a job in John F. Kennedy Space Center and worked with the space shuttle program for 12 years. He started out as a technician and soon became supervisor of engineers and technicians. In 1992 he was a technology consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton consultants and by 1997 he was working as a freelance information technology consultant in Jacksonville.

One day in Jacksonville in 1999 he stumbled upon an old camera shop.

He decided to bring in some of his family’s negatives dating as far back as 1910. After scanning them with a Mac and editing them in Photoshop, Ralph ended up with family photos he had never seen before. His new found love for digital photography had just begun.

Several years later, Ralph received an opportunity to work in Key West exercising his IT skill set and his love of photography. He soon built a home in the Florida Keys and settled into a new life.

One afternoon in 2002, while scanning old photos at the Key West Library with Historian Tom Hambright, he noticed termite holes in some of the photographs.

He brought the situation to Tom’s attention, and with a grant from the University of Florida, has since saved nearly 100,000 photographs.

Ralph is recently retired but continues to work as a professional photographer, shooting mostly music performances and other events. In 2013, he released “The Soul of Key West” coffee table book, the first of its kind focusing on the Key West Music scene. The book tells the story of 46 musicians and includes more than 200 color photographs.

Ralph is in the process of writing his second book about the Key West music scene which is to be released in early 2015.

He refers to Key West as a great artist colony where everyone supports one another and he is happy to help with promo shots, live events, and even album covers.

To purchase Ralph’s book and view his gallery, please visit: www.RWDepalma.com.