US Premiere of Underfire: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro at Boston Film Festival September 22

Underfire: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro – Trailer from Dog Green Productions on Vimeo.


BOSTON – September 12, 2016 – The 2016 Boston Film Festival program presents a panorama of striking projects that include “American Wrestler: The Wizard” (starring Oscar winner Jon Voight and William Fichtner, “Crash,” “The Perfect Storm”) and “The First Girl I Loved” -- along with the U. S. premiere of the documentary “Underfire” and the East Coast premiere of “Finding Oscar” (produced by Oscar winner Steven Spielberg). Many of the films address themes of acceptance, tolerance and bullying, timely and urgent concerns in contemporary society.

In the Opening Night U.S. Premiere documentary “Underfire,” World War II veteran Tony Vaccaro fought as an infantryman before returning to begin a successful career as a renowned commercial photographer. As a 21-year-old soldier, Vaccaro’s story began in combat as he took over 8,000 photographs on the front lines – harrowing and personal images that were not made public until the 1990s. The director is Max Lewkowicz from Dog Green Productions and HBO/Cargo Films. Max Lewkowicz and Tony Vaccaro will be in Boston for the film premiere.

Q&A Attendees Immediately After Film:

Dir. Max Lewkowicz, Tony Vaccaro, Senior NYT Staff Photographer James Estrin

Tickets and information here.

Full press release here.

"Underfire" will air nationally on HBO November 14, 2016.

Related: Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent Tony Vaccaro

Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to represent Tony Vaccaro

Kiss of Liberation: Sergeant Gene Costanzo kneels to kiss a little girl during spontaneous celebrations in the main square of the town of St. Briac, France, August 14, 1944

 

VACCARO STUDIO - MONROE GALLERY

New Partnership And Fall Schedule

Santa Fe, NM -- Monroe Gallery of Photography is honored to announce an exclusive partnership with the Tony Vaccaro Studio for digital and analog print sales of Tony's iconic images. 

Monroe Gallery of Photography was founded by Sidney S. Monroe and Michelle A. Monroe. Building on more than five decades of collective experience, the gallery specializes in classic black & white photography with an emphasis on humanist and photojournalist imagery– a perfect fit for the 450,000 images in the Vaccaro archive. Monroe Gallery will be exhibiting Vaccaro’s work in the exhibition “History in a Moment”, September 30 to November 20. In a statement, the Monroe’s commented: “It is a privilege to present Tony’s historic career in photography, and we are pleased that his work will be featured in this important exhibit alongside so many other great 20th and 21st century photojournalists.”  

Monroe Gallery will also contribute to the success of a special pop-up gallery under the direction of veteran curator, and art critic Peter Frank. “Tony Vaccaro: War, Peace, Beauty”, November 11 to 21, 2016, at 508 West 26th Street, 5th floor, in the West Chelsea Building, in New York City’s Chelsea district. Just shy of 3,000 square feet, the exhibit will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. with an opening reception, Friday, November 11, 6 – 8 pm. Sidney and Michelle Monroe will be in attendance. Sundays the space opens at noon. A special exhibit of Vaccaro''s photographs will be on view at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe through December 31, 2016.

“Tony Vaccaro now boasts a seven decade career capturing images iconic to the 20th century. He aimed his camera at the Second World War and its’ aftermath with the same urgency and grace that made him one of the most artful postwar fashion and celebrity photographers. His portraits of artists, statesmen and women, invariably present their subjects deeply and vibrantly embedded in their milieus.” – Peter Frank.

Soon to turn 94, Mr. Vaccaro still carries a camera and puts in six or seven hours without a break; creating prints in his darkroom and identifying jobs for the staff. Mr. Vaccaro recently finished a run of ten prints of Eleanor Roosevelt from 1946. Mr. Vaccaro will make appearances in Boston (Sept. 22), at the Margaret Mead film festival in NYC (October 15), at the ICP in NYC (Nov.10), and at his pop up show. A solo exhibit of Mr. Vaccaro’s work will be presented at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, in 2017.

Gallery hours are 10 to 5 Daily. Admission is free. For further information, please call: 505.992.0800; E-mail: info@monroegallery.com.

About Tony Vaccaro

This Fall, the documentary film “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro” will premiere at film festivals across the United States, and air nationally on HBO on November 14. The film tells the story of how Tony survived the war, fighting the enemy while also documenting his experience at great risk, developing his photos in combat helmets at night and hanging the negatives from tree branches. The film also encompasses a wide range of contemporary issues regarding combat photography such as the ethical challenges of witnessing and recording conflict, the ways in which combat photography helps to define how wars are perceived by the public, and the sheer difficulty of staying alive while taking photos in a war zone.

At the age of 21, Tony was drafted into the war and by June of 1944, he was on a boat heading toward Omaha Beach, six days after the first landings at Normandy. Tony was determined to photograph the war, and had his portable 35mm Argus C-3 with him from the start. For the next 272 days, Tony fought on the front lines of the war.

After the war, Tony remained in Germany to photograph the rebuilding of the country for Stars And Stripes magazine. Returning to the US in 1950, Tony started his career as a commercial photographer, eventually working for virtually every major publication: Look, Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Newsweek, and many more. Tony went on to become one the most sought after photographers of his day, photographing everyone from Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren to Pablo Picasso and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Tony turns 94 this December, and his photographs are available for the first time exclusively at Monroe Gallery of Photography.


The Wall Street Journal:
Exposing a Life, From WWII to the West Village A documentary and a new exhibit put photographer Tony Vaccaro into focus

World War II in Photographs at the McNay Art Museum

 
Joe Rosenthal/©AP

World War II in Photographs

January 13, 2015 to May 10, 2015

Via The McNay Art Museum

 World War II in Photographs: Looking Back commemorates the 70th anniversary of the war’s end and honors San Antonio’s great military heritage with an exhibition of iconic images by some of the great photojournalists of the time. It also documents the war effort on the home front in San Antonio. A special feature is a group of photographs of the Monuments and Fine Arts Officers, or “Monuments Men,” who rescued art stolen by the Nazis.

The exhibition is especially fitting for the McNay, as Marion Koogler McNay was a strong supporter of the war effort on the home front. Don Denton McNay, her first husband, died at an Army camp in Florida during World War I. During World War II, she purchased and furnished many residences across San Antonio to provide housing for young officers and their families, going so far as to move houses to the grounds of her estate that became the McNay Art Museum.

World War II in Photographs includes images by such luminaries as Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Eisenstadt, and Carl Mydans that express the heroism, sacrifices, and hard work that brought victory. These photographs are sure to fascinate a younger generation unfamiliar with them, as well as an older generation of Americans that remembers them well.

Images have been provided by a variety of sources including the Fort Sam Houston Museum, San Antonio, Texas; Library of Congress, Washington D.C; Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, Dallas, Texas; National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas; and The University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections.

Link for tickets.


This exhibition is organized by the McNay Art Museum. The Elizabeth Huth Coates Exhibition Endowment and the Arthur and Jane Stieren Fund for Exhibitions are lead sponsors. Susan and John Kerr, the Director’s Circle, and the Host Committee are providing additional support.

Image: Joe Rosenthal, Marines of the 28th Regiment of the 5th Division Raise the American Flag Atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, 1945.  © Associated Press
Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Photographing war on the domestic front

Via The Annenberg Space for Photography

Nina Berman

Evidence and Fantasy: The War at Home

On Thursday, May 30th, 2013, Nina Berman was the featured speaker at The Annerberg Space's Iris Night lecture Series. The Iris Nights lecture series is a public program offered free of charge, by online reservation on a first-come, first-served basis. The series brings to life the most current exhibit with presentations by exhibit featured photographers and other notable experts and guest artists, and takes place from 6:30-8pm Thursday evenings at the Annenberg Space for Photography

Photographer, author and educator Nina Berman is known for her work photographing wounded American veterans including her 2006 “Marine Wedding” image. Presenting selections from work made since 9/11, she will explain her motivations and approaches to photographing war on the domestic front.

Click here for the full presentation.

Related:

NPR reviews "War/Photography": What do cameras and combat have in common? Neither seem to be going away

WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY Opens Veterans Day, Sunday, November 11, 2012 in Houston

 

A Photographer's War With PTSD

Marines run for cover after white phosphorus was accidentally fired at them by another company in Falluja, Iraq on November 9, 2004. [Ashley Gilbertson / VII]

Recomended read, via The Atlantic:

"As Ashley Gilbertson crept up the dark staircase of a minaret in Fallujah, he hovered closely behind advance troops of the United States Marines. Stepping around and over the rubble created by an earlier shelling of the mosque, Gilbertson could hardly see the two soldiers in lead.

Moments before starting their climb, Gilbertson argued to be the first person in the room. He wanted to take first shot at the insurgent who used this holy perch to prey on advancing U.S. forces. However, Lance Corporal William Miller and his partner, Lance Corporal Christian Dominguez, would not back down, and they took the lead that November afternoon. As Gilbertson took to the stairs, his partner Dexter Filkins mounted the steps behind him.

Guns at the ready, the convoy had just crested the first flight of crumbling stairs when gunfire erupted. Gilbertson was pushed backwards, tumbling down the steps. His face felt wet.

It was the blood of Lance Corporal Miller.

As the scene became chaotic, Gilbertson's immediate reaction was to shoot back.

He didn't.

He couldn't.

And it wouldn't matter.

The only weapon Gilbertson carries is a camera.

Full article here.

LIVE STREAM! WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath

Dmitri Baltermants, Russian, born Poland, 1912–1990, Attack—Eastern Front WWII, 1941, gelatin silver print, printed 1960, the MFAH, gift of Michael Poulos in honor of Mary Kay Poulos at “One Great Night in November, 1997,” 97.463. © Russian Photo Association, Razumberg Emil Anasovich 

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) is pleased to announce that TWO public programs connected to the highly-anticipated exhibition WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath will be available for free online as a live stream which will provide a close-up view of the speakers and includes their slide presentations. Additionally, as the live stream platform is interactive, you may pose questions which may find their way into the panel discussions!

 

REGISTRATION IS FREE. To register in advance, click HERE
 

Friday, Nov 9, 2012 at 6 p.m. 

An overview of the exhibition presented by Anne Wilkes Tucker, Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography, MFAH.

Saturday, Nov 10, 2012 at 1 to 5 p.m.

Six photographers lead three panel discussions moderated by exhibition co-curators: Anne Wilkes Tucker, Will Michels, and Natalie Zelt. 

1. War-Related Photography for Newspapers vs. Magazines featuring Carolyn Cole and Jonathan Torgovnik 

2. Postwar Long-term Humanitarian Projects featuring Jim Goldberg and Susan Meiselas 

3. Combat Photography featuring Don McCullin and James Nachtwey

The Symposium on Saturday will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear from six  distinguished photographers about their profession and projects, as this is a unique subset of photographers who enter combat zones, who document assassinations and attempted genocides, who use their camera lenses to capture both inhumane cruelty and humanitarian compassion.

The Ruth K. Shartle Symposium is made possible by generous funding from The Brown Foundation, Inc.