Elizabeth "Liz" Miraglia

Award-Winning Photographer’s Lens Captured Suffering and Stardom

No single photo can tell the story of a person’s life, but one particular shot of award-winning photographer Liz Miraglia may come close.

While on assignment in Somalia to chronicle efforts there by the Connecticut-based international aid organization Americares, Liz posed for a fellow photographer with some of the Somali children Americares had helped — camera draped around her neck, smiling the smile of a woman in her element. That was Liz: compassionate, adventurous, dedicated to her craft.

After a months-long battle with cancer, Elizabeth Frances Miraglia of Norwalk, CT, passed away peacefully on July 30, 2026. One of five daughters born to Barbara (Weisz) and Joseph Miraglia, Liz was a native of East Northport, N.Y., and longtime resident of Redding, CT, where she graduated from Joel Barlow High School.

Liz’s early interest in photography became a passion after her parents presented her with a new camera for her 14th birthday, effectively launching her career. She won numerous student photography awards while earning her bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Western Connecticut State University and entered journalism as a photographer for the weekly Redding Pilot.

Liz often felt deep connections to her subjects, especially people in need, from the unsheltered population of New York City to children in war-torn Bosnia, Nicaragua and Somalia to fresh-air children in Darien, CT.

But her photos also captured life’s joys — among concert-goers at the many rock shows she attended, in a group of young friends walking arm-in-arm outside New York City’s Central Park, at family gatherings of the extended Miraglia clan in New York and New England. Liz also put her whimsical side on display and her graphic-arts training to use in the photographs she hand-painted, the holograms she designed and the comic “Playbill” programs she created for family weddings.

Her lens focused on the famous as well as the less fortunate: President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara, under close guard by the Secret Service; “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney at a book signing; former Secretary of State Alexander Haig giving a speech on a college campus. But her favorite celebrities to photograph were pop music stars. Her subjects ranged in genre from schmaltz-meister Barry Manilow to chameleon Rod Stewart to punk rocker Iggy Pop to her personal favorite, Bob Dylan, whom she once captured in duet with fellow folk-rock legend Joan Baez.

In 1988, Liz’s moody, black-and-white image of swaying swings at Compo Beach in Westport, CT, earned first place in a contest conducted by New England Monthly magazine and an admiring letter of congratulations from Richard Blumenthal, then a Connecticut state senator and since 2011 a U.S. Senator. In 1990 came another first-place award, for feature photography from the Connecticut Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. In 1991, her photo of an elderly priest and smiling girl earned first place from the Caring Institute of Washington, D.C., in a contest chaired by the legendary photographer Yousuf Karsh.

Her journalistic work and artistic photos were featured in exhibits throughout Connecticut and New York State, including at the University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University.

When health issues no longer permitted her to work full-time, Liz channeled her passion into the written word and other forms of creative expression, serving as senior editor of Silver Lining, the arts and literature magazine published by the renowned behavioral health facility Silver Hill Hospital.

One constant in Liz’s life was her love of cats, including the companion who remained by her side in her final years, Gracie.

Survivors include Liz’s sisters: Susan Tamoney and her husband, Andrew, of Massachusetts; Stephanie Miraglia and her partner, Allan Garvey, of Vermont; Mary Sylvia and her husband, Vincent, also of Massachusetts; and Caroline Miraglia of California. She is also fondly remembered by her niece, Kathleen Sylvia and nephews Daniel Staples, Joseph Staples and Calnan Sylvia.

In addition, Liz enjoyed an enduring friendship with her high school classmate Wayne Brosler, whose extraordinary aid and companionship were particularly invaluable in making Liz’s final months less difficult.

A private memorial service will take place at a future date.