Portfolio

Selected work.

The work begins in Chelsea, where Arnie lived and worked inside the community he photographed, then follows the roads and water beyond it. Browse by place without losing the human threads—people, work, civic life, faith, fire, and the street—that connect the archive.

8 × 10

The large-format work.

City views and architectural studies from Arnie's large-format negatives, presented in their complete supplied frames.

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Search the workCategoryPlace

39 results

Browse by place

Chelsea

Chelsea, Massachusetts

Black-and-white panoramic view over Chelsea from the City Hall spire, with Broadway leading toward the Boston skyline.

Streets and Neighborhoods

View from City Hall Spire

Setting the Scene

Black-and-white portrait of Al Goldman smiling while holding an issue of the Chelsea Record.

Portraits and People

Al Goldman, 1978

The Chelsea Record

Black-and-white photograph of three women seated together at the counter at Riley's Roast Beef in Chelsea.

Portraits and People

The Counter at Riley’s Roast Beef

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white street photograph of a man outside the Shoe Shelf storefront in Chelsea.

Streets and Neighborhoods

Shoe Shelf

A City in Transition

Black-and-white photograph of the Allen’s Cut Rate storefront on Broadway in Chelsea, covered with hand-painted product signs and prices.

Streets and Neighborhoods

Allen’s Cut Rate, Broadway, 1977

A City in Transition

Black-and-white portrait of an older couple standing arm in arm on Broadway in Chelsea.

Portraits and People

Broadway Couple

Faces of Chelsea

Close black-and-white portrait of an older Chelsea man wearing a cap and jacket.

Portraits and People

Chelsea Guy

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white photograph of a lone triple-decker standing in a broad snow-covered cleared area on Third Street in Chelsea.

Streets and Neighborhoods

Last House on Third Street

A City in Transition

Black-and-white photograph of children jumping rope in Quigley Park in Chelsea.

Children and Community

Jumping Rope, Quigley Park

Black-and-white photograph of a closely gathered group of children dressed for First Communion in Chelsea.

Children and Community

First Communion

Black-and-white close portrait of an older woman leaning on the railing of her back porch in Chelsea's Ward One.

Portraits and People

Woman on Her Back Porch, Ward One

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white photograph of three women talking on a sidewalk in Bellingham Square beneath storefront signs.

Portraits and People

Ladies in Bellingham Square

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white group portrait of older adults gathered closely together.

Portraits and People

Seniors

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white photograph from behind a Chelsea firefighter climbing onto fire apparatus beside a ladder.

Fire and Emergency

Chelsea Firefighter

The Fire Brigade

Black-and-white photograph of the Beacon Café interior, with a long bar, stools, hanging plants, wood paneling, and Irish road signs.

Work and Industry

Beacon Café

Chelsea Businesses

Black-and-white photograph of a large crowd of children and adults dancing together in the street at night.

Children and Community

Dancin’ in the Street

Black-and-white photograph of the Walter Kushmerek Plumbing and Heating storefront window.

Work and Industry

Walter Kushmerek

Chelsea Businesses

Black-and-white photograph of nine older Chelsea residents seated together while waiting for the bus in Bellingham Square.

Portraits and People

Waiting for the Bus in Bellingham Square

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white photograph of Officer Sullivan and Chelsea residents looking upward at a fire on Chestnut Street.

Fire and Emergency

Chestnut Street Fire, Officer Sullivan

The Fire Brigade

Black-and-white photograph of three men standing behind the counter at Murray and Eddie’s on its last day.

Work and Industry

Murray and Eddie’s Last Day

Chelsea Businesses

Black-and-white photograph looking down a Chelsea residential street lined with closely spaced wooden houses and parked cars.

Streets and Neighborhoods

Chelsea Street

A City in Transition

Black-and-white close portrait of an older woman wearing a kerchief.

Portraits and People

Kerchief Lady

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white close portrait of a young girl in Polonia Park looking directly at the camera.

Children and Community

Polonia Park Girl

Black-and-white portrait of an older woman wearing a knitted hat and coat.

Portraits and People

Lady with Knitted Hat

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white close portrait of an older man in a striped knit cap standing on a snowy Chelsea street.

Portraits and People

Face in the Storm

Faces of Chelsea

Black-and-white photograph of Governor Edward J. King and State Senator Francis D. Doris standing with hands over their hearts in Chelsea.

Civic Life and Politics

Governor King and Senator Francis Doris

Political Machinations

Black-and-white photograph of two girls standing beside a low rail in Polonia Park in Chelsea.

Children and Community

Girls at Polonia Park

Black-and-white group portrait of six children gathered on the front steps of a Chelsea house marked number 99.

Children and Community

Children on the Steps, Number 99

Black-and-white photograph of a weathered Chelsea plaque marking Abraham Lincoln's 1848 visit and speech at Gerrish Hall.

Streets and Neighborhoods

Abraham Lincoln Visited Chelsea

A City in Transition

Black-and-white photograph of a tugboat working beneath the bow of the freighter Cabot in Boston Harbor, viewed from Chelsea.

Work and Industry

Cabot, Boston Harbor

Black-and-white frontal photograph of a weathered three-family house with adjoining porches and paired stairways in Chelsea.

Streets and Neighborhoods

Three-Family

A City in Transition

Browse by place

Gloucester & Cape Ann

Gloucester, Lanesville, and Cape Ann, Massachusetts

Black-and-white photograph inside Pascucci Shoe Repairing in Gloucester, with machinery and tools silhouetted near the shop window.

Gloucester and Cape Ann

Pascucci Shoe Repairing, Gloucester

Gloucester Work

Black-and-white photograph of fish moving along an industrial conveyor at the State Fish Pier in Gloucester.

Gloucester and Cape Ann

State Fish Pier Fish Conveyor, Gloucester

Gloucester Work

Black-and-white portrait of Tutt Ahonen leaning on the side of a truck in Lanesville.

Gloucester and Cape Ann

Tutt Ahonen, Lanesville

People of Gloucester

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Greater Boston

Boston, Charlestown, Everett, and the communities surrounding Boston

Black-and-white waterfront photograph of the LNG Libra unloading at an industrial terminal in Everett.

Work and Industry

LNG Libra Unloading, Everett

Black-and-white photograph of the cargo ship MV Aragrace at an industrial waterfront in Charlestown.

Work and Industry

MV Aragrace

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New York Harbor

Fulton Fish Market and New York Harbor

Black-and-white photograph of the Lady of Good Voyage docked at Fulton Fish Market with the Lower Manhattan skyline beyond.

Gloucester and Cape Ann

Lady of Good Voyage at Fulton Fish Market

Lady of Good Voyage

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Voyages & Central America

At sea, bound for Honduras in Central America

Black-and-white photograph from aboard the Lady of Good Voyage underway toward Honduras, with rigging silhouetted against the sun and sea.

Gloucester and Cape Ann

Lady of Good Voyage, Underway to Honduras

Lady of Good Voyage

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Location not specified

The surviving record does not identify where this photograph was made

Black-and-white photograph of a television screen showing Henry Kissinger on a Washington broadcast.

Civic Life and Politics

Henry Kissinger

Political Machinations

Printed work

Images of Chelsea

Private Property pairs a photograph credited to Jarmak with a passage from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. The complete print is shown here.

Open the complete print ↗

Images of Chelsea print titled Private Property, with a photograph by Jarmak and a passage from Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations.

The Chelsea Record

See the photographs as Chelsea first saw them.

Newspaper pages from Arnie's years at the Chelsea Record preserve the photographs beside their original captions, headlines, dates, and local context.

View photographs in print

The wider archive

Explore the complete digitized Arnold Jarmak Collection.

Digital Commonwealth provides direct access to the larger institutional collection, including photographs not yet presented in this curated portfolio.

Open the archive map ↗Browse the complete collection ↗