HIRES AND CAREER MOVES
Bruce Murray retires
Recent Hires
By Kevin Adshade
PICTOU Kuiper-Lampman, Marion Coulter, Brandon Adshade, Kevin Singh, Gulsher Singh, Harjeet Singh, Garpreet MacKay, Jeremy Murdock, Aaron Murphy, Carter MacCulloch, Peggy Peel, Tracey
Production Assistant Jogger Journalist Jogger Jogger Jogger Industrial Electrician Industrial Mechanic Shipper/Receiver Production Assistant Inserter
HALIFAX Jung, Manon Darville, Eyeiessa Watson, Chantá Macmillan, Jordan
Manager, Marketing Production Assistant Business Solutions Representative Marketing Assistant
DIEPPE Rowlandson, Wes Casey, Sean
Shipper - Bindery Operator Business Solutions Representative
KENTVILLE Purchase, Jason
Casual Driver/Labourer
Career Moves PICTOU Bond, James Singh, Jora Butler, Dawson MacDonald, Chance Sarson, Mitch Russell, Chris VanDyk, Devon Hiscock, Kevin
Jogger Production Assistant Press Assistant 1st Press Person Production Assistant Feeder Production Assistant Business Solutions Manager
HALIFAX Ryan, Lori Colborne, Kevin Awalt, Kevin
Business Solutions Manager Business Solutions Manager National Director, Business Solutions
DIEPPE Murray, Tracy Hicks, Timothy Richards, Sue-Ellen
Business Solutions Manager Business Solutions Manager Business Solutions Manager
STELLARTON Parker, Tracey
Business Solutions Manager
Retirement Murray, Bruce 29 years of service
He won’t be putting down the camera for good, but Bruce Murray now has more time to pursue other passions, such as working on his home and banging on drums and other percussion instruments. Murray, the nephew of the late Bruce Murray, president and owner of Advocate Printing & Publishing, retired recently after almost 30 years with the company. “Advocate has been a wonderful place to work,” he says from his home in St. Margaret’s Bay, N.S., where he lives with Christina, his wife of 32 years. “I love creating, doing videos and photographs, but what I really love is meeting all kinds of people, people who are passionate about what they do, and trying to capture it with the lens.” Bruce and Christina were living in Vancouver in the early ’90s when they wanted to relocate to his home province of Nova Scotia. He owned a photography studio on Canada’s West Coast, but they had started having children and wanted them to grow up close to family. That’s when Sean Murray, his cousin and now CEO of Advocate, asked him if he knew anyone who might be capable of leading the Advocate’s photography division. “I said, ‘As a matter of fact we are looking to move back to Nova Scotia,’” he remembers. So, they moved home and he opened a photography studio here, serving print clients, most notably Sobeys. There have been major changes in the world of photography in the past quarter-century, the most obvious being the advent of digital cameras, making photography less time consuming. He had attended a photography conference in Chicago in 2000 and started paying more attention to the digital world. “There had been digital cameras before that, but they didn’t have the quality we were looking for. Once the prices went down and the quality went up, we converted our studio (which later became VisionFire Studios) over to digital around 2004. We were able to deliver the quality that our customers were used to.” Steve Smith, who has been with VisionFire Studios for nearly 10 years, now assumes the role of senior staff photographer for the company. Bruce and Christina are runners and participated in 25 marathons together around the world. Their first date was a 10K race and on their honeymoon, they ran the Honolulu Marathon. “On our 25th wedding anniversary we ran the original marathon route in Athens, Greece,” he says. Once a photographer, always a photographer, Bruce won’t completely abandon the camera. “I’ll still be doing photography, freelance work Advocate and other projects,” he says. And of course, laying down the beat behind his drum kit.
