Tony Boccaccio began his career with National Geographic
Magazine in 1971. Since then, his camera has taken him to over
thirty countries in as many years. Like most photographers, he is a
series of contrasts: His lens has captured the frozen landscapes of
Iceland and the sweltering jungles of the Amazon. He is probably
most known for his beautiful travel photography, yet while working
with the human figure, his sensitivity rivals that of the great
painters. Indeed, his artistic life began as a young painter
trained in the classical manner. He studied classical piano at the
prestigious Eastman School of Music and taught himself to play the
bluegrass banjo. He lived in Brazil as a teenager and Italy as a
college student. In 1995, he returned to Rome, Italy to continue
painting and to learn how to sculpt in the classical manner under
one of Rome's most gifted sculptors, Alessandro Nocera.
"Painting was my first passion. My grandmother catapulted me
into oil painting when I was only 12 years old. To get me out of
her hair one day, she sent me to Washington Square Park in New York
City loaded up with canvas, brushes, paints and easel. I told her I
did not know how to paint; she told me to just put the canvas up,
look cute, and all the old ladies in the park would gather around
to teach me. That is exactly what happened and by the time I was
16, I was painting on commissions and selling my work for more than
the monthly mortgage payment on our home. I discovered the camera
when I was 17. My high school art teacher took me into the darkroom
to see how printing was done. When I saw that first image
miraculously appear I was hooked. That night I announced to my
family that I was no longer going to paint, that I was going to be
a photographer. My father, old Italian that he was, almost killed
me, since I gave half of all my commissions to him. My mother
intervened and the rest is history."
While a student at the University of Rochester, he was invited by
the director of photography at Eastman Kodak to spend time with
their photographers who provided him with valuable training, free
film and development for four years. This opportunity proved
invaluable and eventually led to working with National Geographic
Magazine
Boccaccio's very first photograph was of taken of the Orion
constellation on one cold December night. He was only 13 years old
and had just purchased his first camera, a Mark IV plastic box
camera. His hobby at the time was astronomy. He took the camera
apart and rigged it to make time exposures of the stars. He still
has the negative!
"I believe this first impulse to point my camera upward, to the
heavens, is what set the framework for my future photography: to
capture what can't easily be seen by the naked eye. To capture the
mystery and beauty of the world around me."
From Iceland to the Amazon
While on assignment in Iceland for National Geographic Magazine, he
fell off the Surtsey volcano into the Arctic Ocean. It was October
and the water was below freezing. His young Icelandic guide jumped
into the surf and pulled him out unconscious and not breathing. He
gave him mouth to mouth and a half bottle of good Irish whisky to
revive him. During the same assignment, he crashed in a plane
but he and his pilot survived to tell the story.
"I put the camera on automatic with a 250 photo magazine and
turned it on just before we hit. The camera flew around the cabin
clicking away until it jammed at number 86! At Geographic the only
thing that counts is getting the shot!"
In 1972, he read a small article in the New York Times about the
construction of the TransAmazonic highway, an impressive road cut
across the Amazon jungle. Without hesitation, he dropped everything
and headed off into the world's largest rainforest. He survived a
forest fire, a boat sinking, a gold miner who tried to have him
shot and was lost in the jungle alone for 3 days until by chance a
helicopter pilot saw him and brought him back to civilization. He
returned in 1998 and spent one year photographing the story of the
gold miners and their search for gold in the Amazon and the
resulting social and ecological destruction of the region. The
work, entitled "Where
Madness Follows - The Search for Gold in the Amazon Jungle", is presently being considered for publication as well as for a TV documentary by
Canal Azul in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
"The year in the Amazon was an unparalleled adventure. In the
twelve months and 22,000 kilometers of travel I shot over 17
thousand photographs. I met extraordinary people throughout the
Amazon basin - gold miners, settlers, missionaries, soldiers,
politicians, adventurers, colonists, engineers, and Indians - and
collected the most interesting stories from these men, women and
children who were swept up into the gold rush in the Amazon,
perhaps the greatest and last gold rush of the Twentieth Century."
Only a month after returning from the Amazon he traveled to China
spent four months photographing the land and its people for his stock
agency, Getty Images/The Image Bank.
"China was amazing! The hardest part of the trip was the
language barrier. The only thing I knew how to say in Chinese was
"Hello" and "Thank you", but the Chinese people were warm,
hospitable and always willing to help me get around. From Hong Kong
to Guilin and Beijing, from Shanghai to Fuzhou, I was somehow found
by people who were willing to help me get the photos I wanted. But,
after a year in the Amazon and then 4 more months in China, I was
beat. I slept 16 hours a day for 2 months when I returned home. My
friends thought I was depressed, but I was just worn out from all
the traveling."
His photography is represented worldwide by Getty Images / The Image
Bank and JupiterImages / WorkbookStock. His photography is in the Neikrug
Gallery's New York permanent collection of fine art.
Boccaccio has served as an associate professor in the department of
Computer Education at Gonzaga University in Washington State,
taught Photography and Visual Thinking at Spokane Falls Community
College and served as a member its Advertising Arts Advisory Board.
He has a Masters of Education from Gonzaga University.
SOME CLIENTS:
National Geographic Magazine, Time Magazine, Eastman Kodak Company,
McGraw Hill, Saturday Evening Post, Psychology Today, Natural
History Magazine, British Broadcasting Company UK, Digital Microwave Corporation, Reader's Digest,
Hewlett Packard Corporation, Fortune, Washington Evergreen
Magazine, The Smithsonian, Dana Perfume Corporation, Hilton Hotels,
Vogel Associates, Franciscan Communications, Holt Rinehart Winston,
Apple Computer, CBS Records, Newsweek Magazine, Simon & Schuster, H.T.H. Corporation Japan, Banco do Brazil S.A., Montreal Engenieria
S.A., Brazil Invision, Ltd., IBM, Woman's Day Magazine, East / West
Magazine, Doubleday, Inc., Ikegami, Inc., Independent Minds, UK.
PUBLICATIONS: Il Libro DellčAnno Loyola University Rome Campus Yearbook,. Rome,
Italy (Limited Edition 1971) Beyond Service - Eastman Kodak Company (1985) Conquering the Amazon: Brazil's Jungle Highway - Gannet Publishing
(1973) Where Madness Follows: The Search For Gold In The Amazon Jungle The Marvels of Animal Behavior - 1972 National Geographic Society
This Changing Earth - January 1973 National Geographic Magazine Wečre Doing Something About The Weather - National Geographic
Magazine April 1972 The Great Lakes - National Geographic Magazine August 1973 The Rebirth of Mount St. Helens - National Geographic Traveler Am I Free? - Argus Communications Book Street Urchins of Colombia - Natural History Magazine Sports Photography - Eastman Kodak Company Hawaii - The Land and the People - Gallery Books, New York The West - Images of America - Gallery Books, New York Understanding the New Testament - Franciscan Communication Center
The Mass - A Catholic Perspective - Franciscan Communication Center
Mary: A Woman For Our Time - Teleketics, Franciscan Communications
The Kodak Book of 35mm Photography - Eastman Kodak Faces of Washington - Washington Evergreen Magazine
CINEMATOGRAPHIC WORK: Los Gamines (Colombia) Documentary for Don Bosco Films, NY The Dream (Brazil) Documentary for Don Bosco Films, NY All The Questions - Promotional film for Eastman Kodak Company
"His style is rich and varied. You always know where you stand with
Boccaccio. He speaks his mind and reacts to life on a visceral level. He
is not afraid to take risks in his photography. He follows his instincts.
We think of him as part Ansel Adams and part Hemingway."
~ Paul Ambrose
Desert Dolphin Agency
Click here to read more about Tony's Amazon
adventure.
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