Al Bullock was born in Utica New York in March 1923. His childhood was uneventful until the age of 16 when he was given the opportunity to leave home and seek fame and fortune in the United States Navy.

Al quickly found he had an aptitude for photography and especially Navy photography school. It kept him from having to swab decks. He sought out and attended as many schools as he could, some quite close to his hometown, which was convenient.

December 7, 1941 found Al in the thick of the action. He was on Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor filming the carnage with a hand cranked 16mm camera. He spent the entire war moving from one campaign to the next attached to the cruiser USS Santa Fe as a "flag cameraman." Wherever the Santa Fe's Admiral went, Al was close by. Throughout the war, the Santa Fe was part of a task force commanded by both Admirals Halsey and Kinkaid.

In March of 1945, the Santa Fe made history as she went to the aid of the stricken aircraft carrier USS Franklin just 50 miles off the Japanese coastline. Al took still and motion pictures of the heroic efforts to save the burning carrier. Many of the still pictures he took have been reprinted in stories about the Franklin and his movies can be seen in segments of the famous documentary "Victory at Sea."

Returning to civilian life in 1946, Al "settled down" in San Mateo and worked at a variety of jobs including taking pictures of little kids and selling advertising time for a local radio station. Through it all, he dreamed of getting into the news business.

Al finally got his chance in 1962 when the News Director of KGO-TV, Roger Grimsby, tired of all Al's pestering and hired him. It was a match made in heaven. Al and his 60 pound camera assembly quickly became a familiar sight at major and not so major San Francisco events. When an aspiring designer invited the media to see his newest creation, an almost topless bikini, Al was there. When there were campus disorders at San Francisco State, Cal and Stanford, Al was there. When the Reverend Jim Jones led a mass suicide in the jungles of Guyana, Al was there. When Patty Hearst was kidnapped and when she was finally arrested, Al was there. And when Dan White ended the lives of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, Al was there.

In a career that spanned 30 years in 4 decades, and saw the transition from 16mm black and white film to the live minicams of the present, Al Bullock was present and accounted for at many of the most memorable happenings in the Bay Area. Since his retirement in 1992 Al has kept very busy with his other loves, fishing, hunting and family.

Al's son, Bob, followed his dad into "the business" and is a veteran photographer at a television station in Portland, Oregon. His two daughters Candy and Georgette are both teachers as is his granddaughter, Stephanie. They're proud of him and he's rightfully proud of them.

The walls of his home are covered with awards and accolades from colleagues and competitors alike. Among his most treasured are his two California Press Photographer of the Year awards and the plaque commemorating his induction into the Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Silver Circle.