Al Bello
Al Bello grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In 1993, Al landed a position as a Junior photographer at Allsport Photo Agency which became part of Getty images in 1998. He never looked back. Since joining Getty in 1993, Al was the Chief Sports Photographer in North America from 2004-2019 working with a very talented staff. In 2020, he has changed roles at Getty and is now a Special Sport Correspondent hoping to expand his horizons doing more sport photo projects and working to help develop up and coming sports photographers. He also enjoys shooting picture stories involving sport. Some of Al’s favorites include “Cockfighting in Puerto Rico” “The Recovery of Sport One Year after Hurricane Maria” and Portrait series in 4x5 format on “The Faces of Boxing” and most recently a Portrait photo essay of “Athletes of the World Senior Games.” Al has won various individual awards from World Press Photo, The Lucie Foundation, National Press Photographers Association, Pictures of the Year International, China International Press Photographers Association, The New York Press Photographers Association, The Boxing Writers Association, The Football Hall of Fame, The Baseball Hall of Fame, FINA, and The International Olympic Committee. He was named Sport Photographer of the year by POYI, NPPA, and NYPPA. Al was most recently named as a Pulitzer Prize finalist with Getty Images for their team coverage of the COVID -19 Pandemic in 2020-2021. Al has taught and lectured at The Eddie Adams Workshop, The Creative Live Workshop, The National Press Photographers Association Short Course, Fotofusion Workshop, The Richard Clarkson Workshop, The World Press Photo Foundation, Hofstra University, The Rochester Institute of Technology, The Poynter Institute, The Wisconsin News Photographers Association, Sacred Heart University, and several functions for Getty Images. On a personal note, Al now lives in Merrick, New York. He enjoys spending every second of his off time with his wonderful wife Debbie of 27 years, his two kids Nicole, and Daniel, and his lovable Beagle Maggie.
