UNDERFIRE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF PFC. TONY VACCARO, RECOUNTING THE LIFE OF A WWII COMBAT INFANTRYMAN AND WAR PHOTOGRAPHER, DEBUTS NOV. 14 ON HBO

Via HBO PR


"In World War II, Tony Vaccaro played two risky roles, serving as a combat infantryman on the front lines, as well as a photographer who shot 8,000 photographs. Though he began as a young GI eager to record the war, he vowed never to take another war photo on the day the conflict ended, horrified by what he had seen." (click for full press announcement)

The poignant documentary debuts Monday, Nov. 14 (8:00–9:15 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.


TONY VACCARO : WAR, PEACE, BEAUTY
A pop-up photographic retrospective exhibit, in association with The Monroe Gallery of Photography.
November 11 - 21, 2016
508 W 26th St Loft 5G, New York, NY 10001
505.992.0800/ info@monroegallery.com for information
Also on view at Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe, NM.

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

Monroe Gallery Announces Three Exhibitions For November

Monroe Gallery of Photography announces three timely exhibits for November, two of which coincide with major film releases.

Beginning November 1, LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet's intimate images of Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown, will be on exhibit.

Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. On November 4, the feature film “Loving” opens, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols and starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in the roles of Richard and Mildred Loving. Grey Villet’s photographs are on exhibit November 1 – December 31, 2016, and will then be exhibited at Photo LA, January 12 – 17, 2017.

Monroe Gallery of Photography will present a pop-up gallery exhibition in collaboration with 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 Arts Building in New York City. The exhibit opens with a reception for Tony Vaccaro, Friday, November 11, 6 – 8 pm. Sidney and Michelle Monroe will be in attendance. Tony Vaccaro’s photographs will be on exhibit concurrently at Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, through December 31, 2016.

The Vaccaro exhibits coincide with the HBO premiere on Monday, November 14, of the documentary film “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro”. 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.

Finally, on November 25 Monroe Gallery presents a major exhibition of photographs from one of America’s most accomplished photographers, Art Shay. The exhibit of 50 photographs opens Friday, November 25 with a reception for the 94-year old photographer from 5 – 7 PM, and continues through January 22, 2017.

Gallery hours are 10 to 5 Daily, admission is free. For further information, please contact the Gallery.

Hikaru “Carl” Iwasaki, famed Japanese-American photographer, dies at 93 in Denver

Brown Sisters Walk to School, Topeka, Kansas, 1953 Photograph by Carl Iwasaki

Via The Denver Post


Hikaru “Carl” Iwasaki, an American of Japanese heritage who was relocated to a World War II internment camp as a teen and went on to become a renowned photojournalist, died last week in his Denver home. He was 93.

As a contributor to Time, Life and Sports Illustrated magazines, among other publications, Iwasaki photographed several presidents and multiple sport stars. His work also included many everyday Japanese-Americans settling throughout the country in the aftermath of World War II internment as well as documenting the civil rights movement, including Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Kan., in the 1950s.

“He was a real old-timer, well-known in this community among other (photographers) and journalists,” said Dick Woodbury, a colleague and long-time friend.

Woodbury, who met Iwasaki at an Air Force Academy home football game in 1962, described his friend as “a kind, gracious, unassuming person, a very hard worker.”

Born Oct. 18, 1923, in San Jose, Calif., Iwasaki became interested in photography through his high school yearbook and newspaper. At age 19, Iwasaki and his family were sent to an internment camp in Heart Mountain, Wyo.

Iwasaki’s photo skills led him to a position with the War Relocation Authority photo unit in Denver, where he worked in a darkroom. He soon became a WRA photographer, documenting Japanese-Americans released from camps as they resettled throughout the country.

Over the course of his journalism career, Iwasaki photographed Presidents Ford, Nixon, Truman and Eisenhower.

Eisenhower’s connections to Denver — he recovered from a heart attack here — helped Iwasaki form a special bond with Ike.

“Not many people know about this, but (Eisenhower) loved to paint,” Iwasaki told the Monroe Gallery of Photography in 2010. “I photographed him painting, and he autographed it for me. … I got to know him very well.”

Monroe featured Iwasaki’s work in a Santa Fe gallery.

“Everyone recognizes his work as a photographer,” said Dean Iwasaki, his son. “It was real art. He had an eye for that.”

Iwasaki had been a member of the Denver Press Club since the 1950s.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Beatrice, in 2005. He is survived by two sons, Dean, of Denver, and John, of Connecticut; a daughter, Janice, of California; two stepsons, Tom and Ed; and numerous grandchildren.

Private family services are pending.

Carl Iwasaki's photograph of the Brown Sisters in featured in the current exhibition "History in a Moment" through November 20, 2016.

The Story of Richard and Mildred Loving

Photograph by Grey Villet

Richard and Mildred Loving laughing and watching television

in their living room, King and Queen County, Virginia, 1965

Exhibit of Photographs Coincides with Feature Film “Loving” Premiere

Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of  Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to exhibit  LIFE magazine photographer Grey Villet's intimate images of an interracial couple, Richardand Mildred Loving, who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry. Grey Villet’s photographs are on exhibit November 1 – December 21, 2016.

On November 4, the feature film “Loving” opens, from acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols and starring Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga in the roles of Richard and Mildred Loving.

The families of Richard Perry Loving and Mildred Delores Jeter had lived in Caroline County, Virginia for generations. Richard first met Mildred while listening to her brothers play music at the Jeters’ home. They dated for a few years before deciding to marry. Interracial marriage was illegal in Virginia and in twenty-five other states. For this reason, on June 2, 1958, Richard brought to his bride-to-be to Washington, D.C., where there were no racial bans on marriage.

Based on an anonymous tip that the Lovings were illegally living as a married, sheriff Garnett Brooks and two deputies burst into the Lovings’ bedroom on July 11, 1958 at 2 a.m. When Richard explained that the woman in bed with him was his wife, Brooks replied, “Not here she’s not.” They were arrested for unlawful cohabitation and both pled not guilty. Richard only spent one night in jail while Mildred had to spend four; Richard was told that he would be put back in jail if he tried to bail out his wife.

In October 1958, the grand jury of the Circuit Court of Caroline County charged the Lovings with violating two sections of Virginia’s 1924 Racial Integrity Act. Because Richard was white and Mildred was African American and Native American, their marriage was illegal and a felony offence in Virginia.

On January 6, 1959, the Lovings pleaded guilty to the felony charge of miscegenation and Judge Leon M. Bazile sentenced them to one year in prison. The sentence was suspended if the Lovings agreed to be banished from Virginia for twenty-five years. On appeal, Bazile refused to set aside his original verdict, thereby propelling the Lovings’ case toward the U.S. Supreme Court, stating, “Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay, and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.”

Banished from Virginia, the Lovings’ moved to Washington, D.C. In June 1963, Mildred wrote to Attorney General Robert Kennedy, asking if the new Civil Rights legislation would help her family return to Virginia. Kennedy responded that Mildred contact the American Civil Liberties Union, who had been actively pursuing anti-miscegenation test cases since the late 1950s. ACLU attorneys Bernard S. Cohen and Philip J. Hirschkop took the Lovings’ case, filing a brief in November 1964. The Loving v. Virginia decision delivered on June 12, 1967, found all miscegenation laws unconstitutional.

From Chief Justice Earl Warren’s 1967 unanimous opinion:
"Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival. To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discriminations. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual, and cannot be infringed by the State."

In an era before any digital tinkering with results was possible, Grey Villet’s technique was one that required intense concentration, patience and understanding of his subjects joined with a technical mastery that allowed rapid use of differing cameras and lenses to capture and compose the "right stuff" on film as it happened. “RIGHTS, RACE & REVOLUTIONS:A Portrait of LIFE in 1960s America by Grey Villet” was exhibited at the Museum at Bethel Woods April 2 – December 31, 2016. Grey Villet died in 2000.

Gallery hours are 10 to 5 Daily, admission is free. Visit www.monroegallery.com for more information.

History in a Moment

Joe Rosenthal/©AP

Marines of the 28th Regiment of the 5th Division Raise the American Flag Atop Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima, 1945

A major exhibition of iconic moments in history as captured by the leading photojournalists of the time. September 30 - November 20, 2016


"History In A Moment" 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. The photographs in this exhibition are as much a history of American photojournalism as they are a history of the changing face of the latter part of the Twentieth Century. Through the images captured in these photographs, the eyes of a nation were opened as never before to a changing world.

Historic images featured in the exhibition include the Wright Brothers’ first flight, scenes of migrant workers in the 1930’s and the Great Depression, searing war and conflict photography from World War II, Vietnam, 9/11, and the Iraq War. Historic political campaigns are represented, as are key moments in the civil rights struggle from the 1960’s to the present day.

The exhibit includes several photographs by 93-year old Tony Vaccaro. This Fall, the documentary film “Under Fire: The Untold Story of Private First Class Tony Vaccaro” will premiere at film festivals nation-wide, and debut nation-wide on HBO on November 14, 2016. 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. Monroe Gallery is the exclusive representative for Tony’s work and “History in a Moment” presents Tony’s historic photographs to the gallery public for the first time.

The unforgettable images in this exhibition are imbedded in our collective consciousness; they form a sort of shared visual heritage for the human race, a treasury of significant memories. Many of the photographs featured in this exhibition not only moved the public at the time of their publication, and continue to have an impact today, but set social and political changes in motion, transforming the way we live and think. Looking at the pictorial documentation of such extraordinary events we often get the impression that we are feeling the pulse of history more intensively than at other times.

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

Victims of Armed Conflict in Colombia the Focus Photography Exhibition in Santa Fe

Santa Fe, N.M.—September 7 , 2016—The Photography Department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD) is proud to announce an exhibition entitled “Drifting Away/Río Abajo” by Colombian visual artist Erika Diettes. The exhibition, which is part of SFUAD’s Artists for Positive Social Change™ series, opens Sept. 16 with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Atrium Gallery at the Marion Center for Photographic Arts. Diettes will speak on campus Sept. 17 from 4 to 5 p.m. in Tipton Hall.

Diettes’s work honors the victims of armed conflict between the government, guerillas (FARC) and drug lords in Colombia. In this series, images of artifacts of the disappeared––a shirt, a shoe or a pair of eyeglasses––are photographed in water and printed on huge plates of glass that are framed and placed on the ground like large-scale tombstones.

In conjunction with the exhibition, the university will host a conversation between Diettes and Kate Ware, curator of photography at the New Mexico Museum of Art, on Sept. 17 from 4 to 5 p.m. in Tipton Hall on the SFUAD campus. Diettes will then sign copies of her book Memento Mori: Testament to Life. The event is free and open to the public.

Diettes is a Colombian visual artist and social anthropologist whose work focuses on the deeply personal yet universal effects of political violence and injustice. Her work is part of the permanent collection of major museums, including the Museo Nacional in Bogatá and Museo de Antioquia in Colombia and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. It has been featured at the Fotofest Biennial, the Festival de la Luz in Buenos Aires, the Ballarat Foto Biennale in Australia, and in an exhibit at CENTER, Santa Fe, N.M.

The Atrium Gallery at the Marion Center for Photographic Arts and Tipton Hall are located on the SFUAD campus at 1600 St. Michael’s Drive. The exhibition can be viewed weekdays between 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. through January 14.

Launched in 2011, Artists for Positive Social Change explores a specific theme relevant to society and the work of artists who push the creative boundaries through a university-wide series of events, courses, lectures and performances.

About SFUAD’s Photography Department
The Photography Department at Santa Fe University of Art and Design offers a comprehensive education in the theory, techniques, history and ethics of photography. This base, integrated with a strong foundation in other visual and liberal arts, provides students with the knowledge and perspective they need to pursue photography as a creative professional. The program, housed in the Anne and John Marion Center for Photographic Arts, encompasses both analog and digital technologies, giving students the chance to work in exemplary traditional and alternative process darkrooms and a state-of-the-art digital facility. Students also have access to the Beaumont and Nancy Newhall Library, an outstanding resource on the history, aesthetics and technology of photography.

More details here.

About Santa Fe University of Art and Design:

Santa Fe University of Art and Design is an accredited institution located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of the world’s leading centers for art and design. The university offers degrees in business, contemporary music, creative writing, digital arts, graphic design, film, performing arts, photography and studio art. Faculty members are practicing artists who teach students in small groups, following a unique interdisciplinary curriculum that combines hands-on experience with core theory and prepares graduates to become well-rounded, creative, problem-solving professionals. SFUAD boasts an international student body and opportunities to study abroad, encouraging students to develop a global perspective on the arts. Santa Fe University of Art and Design is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission

The most iconic Marilyn Monroe object of all time will sell at Auction

©Bill Ray: Marilyn Monroe sings "Happy Birthday" to President John F. Kennedy, Madison Square Garden, New York, May 19, 1962


Via ArtDaily.org

On November 17, 2016, Julien’s Auctions, the world-record breaking auction house to the stars, will once again make history when it exclusively offers the Marilyn Monroe “Happy Birthday Mr. President” Jean Louis creation at auction.

Life magazine photographer Bill Ray remembers that night and how he made his famous photograph here.

©Bill Ray

President John F. Kennedy at his birthday party after Marilyn Monroe Sang "Happy Birthday"

In the news: the unexploded bombs dropped on Laos during the Vietnam War

Stephen Wilkes: Bomb Craters, Laos, 2015

Stephen Wilkes' photographs in National Geographic: Laos Finds New Life After the Bombs

Slideshow

During a visit to Laos in 2012, LIFE photographer Bob Gomel's tour guide showed him how the Laotians hid from the American bombs during the war-in underground caves: