Ocean Ridge resident Joyce Bruck (shown here with her Chihuahua Chi Chi)
travels extensively, using two Canon cameras to capture images
of the humans, the wildlife and the scenery she encounters.
Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
Joyce Bruck of Ocean Ridge is an accidental photographer.
The former computer operations manager who worked in California for two decades was bitten by the travel bug while growing up on the East Coast.
“I was brought up to go see things,” she said of her family’s annual road trip from South Carolina to Miami Beach. “My family had a Brownie camera, and someone took a picture of me at 10 in St. Augustine.”
From that modest start, she would go on to visit 100 countries on seven continents. Her favorite countries are: Namibia and Madagascar for the wildlife and tribes, Antarctica for the penguins and icebergs, Chile for its varied scenery and Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, for the polar bears.
In Namibia in 2006, an elephant lumbered toward the rental car she was driving through the Etosha National Park. Her friend rolled up a window on the passenger side of the car, and Bruck said, “Winnie, that is not going to do any good.” Bruck took its picture, and then the elephant simply stepped around the car, averting a crisis.
She uses two Canon EOS Rebel camera bodies, one with a wide-angle lens of 18-50 mm and one with a zoom that goes from 70-300 mm.
“You can’t just have one camera today because when you fumble around changing the lens, your subject could disappear,” she said.
She specializes in still lifes of animals, birds and people, as well as scenery. “Subjects intrigue me,” she said. The zoom lens allows her to stand back a comfortable distance from the subject and still make a good photograph, she said.
Her travel photos have been exhibited at the Delray Beach Public Library and at Boca Raton City Hall. Her Florida bird photos were displayed at the Daggerwing Nature Center in suburban Boca Raton.
Bruck also enjoys seeing her travel photos in the monthly International Travel News, which relies on the candid tips from subscribers. She receives no pay for this but does it simply for the thrill of seeing her photos in print.
She writes tips for other readers, such as saving all travel documents until the trip is over. Her house is a testament to the save-everything principle.
She never took formal photography lessons. As a member of the Boynton Beach Camera Club, she often picks up tips from fellow photographers.
Because her parents died when she was young, she became self-sufficient. When she was working as a math aide for TRW Systems, she taught herself to program computers. She also is a Florida-licensed real estate broker.
Bruck, 70, truly enjoys living in Ocean Ridge, where the views are not marred by high-rises.
Her passion is ballroom dancing. She takes a weekly class and goes out dancing with her instructor each week.
For her next trip this fall, she will combine dancing and touring on a Silversea cruise ship that sails from Venice. She is researching Italy with five books from the Boynton Beach Library.
Currently single, Bruck picks cruise ships with gentleman hosts. That way, she can go on all-day tours and take photos. Then when she returns to the ship, she’ll have a companion for dinner and dancing.
— Jane Smith
Q. Where did you grow up and go to school? How do you think that has influenced you?
A. Columbia, S.C. There was not much culture from which to learn or career options. ÖAfter graduating from the University of South Carolina with a bachelor’s in biology, I called a cousin in California and asked if I could come out for a (job-hunting) visit. Within a few days, I got a job at the USC Medical Center as a biology researcher.
Q. How/when did you become a photographer?
A. A guy I was dating in 1965 gave me a Kodak Instamatic for my birthday. I used that camera when a girlfriend and I took a road trip through Europe.
Q. What other careers have you had, what were the highlights?
A. Biological researcher, math aide, computer programmer, data processing auditor, manager computer equipment operations, mostly in Fortune 500 companies, in California. Real estate broker/owner and mortgage broker (in Florida). The highlights were discovering how to do things better, faster and more accurate. I once managed 28 people.
Q. Tell us about your photography.
A. I take pictures in Florida and around the world, using them in articles I write, travel presentations and exhibitions.
Q. How did you choose to make your home in Ocean Ridge?
A. I visited Florida as a child and had a relative living in Fort Lauderdale. I prefer warm climates. When I was trying to decide exactly where to live, I drove up the coast (to Singer Island then came back to) Ocean Ridge and decided this was where I wanted to be.
Q. What is your favorite part about living in Ocean Ridge?
A. It is quiet, peaceful, beautiful. Just yesterday, a fox ran across the road in front of my car one block from my house. There are always birds, flowers and butterflies.
Q. What book are you reading now?
A. I read about one book a week — usually best sellers.
Q. What music do you listen to when you need inspiration? When you want to relax?
A. Various kinds: ’50s, country and western, light piano concerts and Celtic women.
Q. Do you have a favorite quote that inspires your decisions?
A. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
Q. Who/what makes you laugh?
A. My Chihuahua Chi Chi.
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