“IBEW member Rick Giammaria, senior staff photographer at Potomac Electric Power Co. (Pepco), was celebrated with a retrospective of his photography at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery in the closing weeks of 2024. Local 1900 President/Business Manager/Financial Secretary Jerry R. Williford Jr., colleagues, and family members praised Giammaria’s photographs, work ethic, and personality at the exhibit’s Nov. 13 opening reception. The exhibit featured 50 of his favorite photos, culled from thousands he shot for three Pepco Holdings utilities during 35 years at Pepco. His theme was how people who work for Pepco, Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power respond to crises. One was taken on Thanksgiving weekend in 2022 when a small plane crashed into a Pepco transmission tower in Maryland, leaving 85,000 people without power and two people injured inside a crumpled plane 100 feet above ground. Giammaria captured emergency responders, Local 1900 workers and Pepco contractors at the scene conferring about the forthcoming rescue effort’s safe execution. “That’s a pretty powerful photo that everyone seems to respond to,” he said. His photos spotlight the need for utilities to respond quickly to catastrophes and restore customers’ power safely in harsh, even dangerous, conditions. “I really want people to understand the professionalism of the employees,” Giammaria says.”
Jerry R. Williford Jr., B.M./F.S.
Click here to view the February issue: The Electrical Worker Article – February 2025
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. (2025, February). “Local 1900’s Rick Giammaria celebrated with photo exhibit.” The Electrical Worker, 19(2). Retrieved from https://www.ibew.org/articles/25ElectricalWorker/EW2502/IBEW%20EW%20V19%20N02.pdf
