Tony Vaccaro: The Pursuit of Beauty

 Via Musee Magazine

July 5, 2024

Tony Vaccaro died on December 28, 2022, eight days after celebrating his 100th birthday. Orphaned at age 6, as a young boy he immersed himself in studying classic European art and by age 10 had a box camera. He photographed WWII from a soldier’s perspective, documenting his personal witness to the brutality of war. After carrying a camera across battlefields, he become one the most sought-after photographers of his day, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Flair, Look, Life, Venture, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Quick, Newsweek, and many more. Vaccaro turned the trauma of his youth into a career seeking beauty. Tony’s transition from war and its aftermath was a deliberate one as an antidote to man’s inhumanity to man.



more here: Monroe Gallery

Tony Vaccaro at Monroe Gallery of Photography

 Via Pasatiempo, The Santa Fe New Mexican

November 26, 2020

Tony Vaccaro, The Fashion Train, NYC (1960), archival pigment print

Photographer Tony Vaccaro, the subject of a 2016 documentary by HBO Films, fought on the front lines during World War II as a combat infantryman in the 83rd Infantry Division. All the while he was documenting his first-hand experience with his camera.

After the war, Vaccaro distinguished himself as a photographer, capturing a spectrum of events and personalities, such as artist Georgia O’Keeffe, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and activist Coretta Scott King. His work appeared in numerous publications, including Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, and Newsweek.

Vaccaro, who’s about to turn 99, survived the Battle of Normandy and, more recently, a bout of COVID-19. He appears via live remote for his 99th Birthday Exhibition during a 5 p.m. reception on Friday, Nov. 26. The exhibit continues through Jan. 16. Masks and proof of vaccination required for the reception.

Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., 505-992-0800, monroegallery.com

Join Us Friday, November 25 to Welcome Art Shay

Art Shay: Chili Con Carne, Chicago, 1949

A major exhibition of photographs from one of America’s most accomplished photographers, Art Shay, November 25 through January 22, 2017. Opening reception with Art Shay Friday, November 25, 5-7 PM.

For over 70 years, Art Shay has documented life, combining his gifts of storytelling, humor and empathy. Born in 1922, he grew up in the Bronx and then served as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, during which he flew 52 bomber missions and a series of pictures he took of a collision between two B-24s above his air base in East Anglia was published in Look magazine. Shay joined the staff of Life magazine as a writer, and quickly became a Chicago-based freelance photographer for Life, Time, Sports Illustrated and other national publications. He has photographed nine US Presidents and many major figures of the 20th century. Shay also wrote weekly columns for various newspapers, several plays, children's books, sports instruction books, many photo essay books and authored several pays. Shay's photography is in the permanent collections of major museums including the National Portrait Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, and The Art Institute of Chicago. Although his last formal assignment was in 1988, when he shot the night the lights went on at Wrigley Field for Time Magazine, Shay has continued actively photographing in his later years.

View the exhibition on-line here.

Also on exhibit: Tony Vaccaro: War, Peace, Beauty

THE SUMMER ART SEASON IN SANTA FE

It is almost July, and many of the art-cities of the world are on hiatus for the summer. Which means the season is just getting started in Santa Fe. Here are few highlights.

Start the summer season at the opening reception for "History's Big Picture" at Monroe Gallery of Photography. The reception celebrates Monroe Gallery's ten years in Santa Fe, and takes place Friday, July 1, from 5 - 7 PM. "History's Big Picture" mines the depth and breadth of Monroe Gallery's archives and is combined with new, never-before exhibited photojournalism masterpieces, from the early 1900's to the present day. Through 60 significant photographs, "History's Big Picture" highlights both the significant and the idiosyncratic and embodies how Monroe Gallery has helped shape the understanding and appreciation of photojournalism locally and worldwide.

The Santa Fe Opera starts its season July 1 with Faust, followed by a summer of great performances. The following weekend, July 8 - 10, features the The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, now in its 8th year, and Art Santa Fe, celebrating its 11th year. The final major event of July is the 60th Traditional Spanish Market, which will be celebrated Saturday and Sunday, July 30 and 31, 2011.

Site Santa Fe has two concurrent exhibitions of note throughout the summer: Pae White: Material Mutters and Suzanne Bocanegra: I Write the Songs.


Throughout the month there are dozens of gallery openings across Santa Fe, as well as many other arts events. And August holds more!