Live From The Field
In 1989 this wacky family is in full party mode Sal myself even my dad and then to put the cherry on the cake they elect my grandfather as the mayor of Key West that changed all the rules My dad got all these great contracts in Key West I started coming down with all my friends to party and do some incredible Tortuga trips great fishing trips I was also a famous nude photographer in New York City at that time and Sal just hosted 20 20 with Dan Rather and CBS They were the good times
As far back as the late 20s there has always been a photography mask studio in the family between Sal and myself Some of these images are from the early 30s and in my studios 10 years ago most of these masks are in our house here yes they have special powers
My great uncle Sal had many photography mask studios as far back as a late 20s through his death in 1995 he always had one in New York City even while he had another studio above his brothers bar in Key West Captain Tony’s And those New Jersey studios were pretty wild from what I heard he photographed a lot of famous people before they were famous I Gene Hackman, James Earl Jones Burrell Ives Ed Asner Frances Sternhagen a lot of those extras in bonanza outer limits The list goes on and on and I have all the negatives love this picture of Gean Hackman he just arrived to New York City I think late 50s
It was 3:30 in the morning I was covering and drag show at the first gay sports bar in New York the music box her name was Frank she asked me if I was interested in a date she stood about 6 foot four kind of look down on me I said not now but I love those shoes he laughed but first a serious face it was funny
Amazing original slide right here Sal took it in 1964 Captain Tony catches the largest tiger shark on record in South Florida it was put on them from page of the Miami Herald Captain Tony catch you see beast the two girls with him or my two aunts Coral and little Toni This photo has been published everywhere I’m lucky to have the original slide and negative
In my 42 years of being a publisher Photographer I do hold some world records one of them is having a New York image bank with 65,000 different people on it that I shot in 30 years and i actually edited them out of 300,000 they are all on digital chips and negatives it’s still in our project in the works that could be a world record I have not yet met any photographer to match my numbers One of my other claims to fame Is the 1200 exotic dancers I published in a three-year period also convincing 1700 girls to sign a release here’s a couple of those girls now
This is an original slide that Sal Took the year 1969 since my grandfather’s bar was on a side street off of the main drag Duval in Key West he needed something for the people to see as they walk down the main drag and looked out his street Sal painted a sign and my grandfather took the giant fish off his car that he use for advertising for his boat the city gave my grandfather a very hard time but as usual the captain one, But it changed the law for everybody elseBut when you could put aside extenze go on the sidewalk if you walk through Key West today my grandfathers bar has the only sign like that
As far back as 1978 I have been selling framed photos posters and postcards of my work I haven’t done very well in the city of Key West Florida, Point Pleasant New Jersey, I New York City the funny thing now 43 years later Is I’m selling my imagery as vintage photography
Anybody who knows my work knows I’ve published 1200 exotic dancers in three different magazines I also did hundreds I thought their portfolios at my studio and the company studio here’s nine girls that were published 32 years ago almost vintage I have to wait another 20 years
