Name a dozen major companies. Chances are Phil Cantor has worked for them — executive portraits, annual reports, magazine stories. When Phil added portrait and wedding photography to his resume, he found an unexpected creative outlet.

“I get to do what I love to do,” he says. “People photography, whether they are family portraits, business headshots, yearbook photographs or weddings, fit perfectly with my personality and my photographic approach. I love being with people on a day in their lives when they’re incredibly happy.”

Phil’s owned his first studio in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood for ten years. Over twenty-five years ago,  he moved to New Jersey, where he has continued to grow his business and vision first in Montclair, and now in his bright and airy studio, in artsy Verona, NJ.

Phil’s relaxed candid style, marked by dynamic composition and a photojournalist’s vision, is the result of over 30 years as a professional photographer. “All my work has been concerned with real people and real locations,” he says. “My work is so satisfying because I know these photographs are going to be cherished for generations.

“What could be better than that?” says the award-winning photographer.

Phil is the father of two talented sons, one designing spaceships in Seattle, the other working on TV commercials in Manhattan. In his free time, Cantor is the former president of the Montclair Business Improvement District, volunteers for the NY/NJ Trail Conference, as well as participates in fundraising for the Montclair Art Museum, the Montclair Kimberley Academy, Blue Wave, Partners for Women & Justice, Clara Maass Hospital, and Jack & Jill.

Phil lives next to the Passaic River and is an avid hiker in the New Jersey woods, a skier on cross-country trails in Vermont and wanderer of city streets in Manhattan.