John Lennon is One of my favorite artists I got him and Jim Morrison were incredible poets I never got to meet John Lennon but I got to meet his wife Yoko Ono I heard so many bad stories about her through the tabloids but I have to admit after meeting her she really was a sweetheart couldn’t sing at all but definitely was a sweetheart
This is some super cool stuff right here it’s one of Sal’s Composite sheets throughout Sals life he probably did over 1000 portfolios of actor and actresses wannabes hundreds of them made it on Broadway or in movies just on this simple composite sheet there’s lots of them there’s Gene Hackman,James Earl Jones, George Maharis from Route 66, Frances Sternhagen she’s been in so many Broadway plays many of these people you might recognize but not know their names this composite sheet is over 60 years old I have over a dozen of them with all the original negatives
41 years ago that’s my dad on the right Captain Andy Griffith Senior in the middle and Andy Junior on the far left he was a junior in high school back then, an me I was taking photos smoking a joint and drinking tequila of course I was fishing also, we had out Riggers on the port and starboard sides and two electric wheels worked our ass off caught over 2000 pounds of Spanish mackerel in one day I hate that fish it was a great day of fishing captain Andy gave me an my dad $100 each and a bunch of lobster I worked for captain Andy on and off for two years just to get away from the evil wicked nightlife of Key West, Did a bunch of Tortuga trips made some serious money with him and tons of fresh seafood back in the early 90s we ended up going on a bunch of party trips I miss that old pirate Andy Junior also
If you get a hold of a book called the Peterstown press you’ll see a lot of photographs of these guys these are the original Sopranos from Elizabeth New Jersey not only do I have the original negatives and prints I have their names great uncle Sal did their portraits at the famous mob barbershop called Henny LaSalle’s my great uncle Lou was a barber there before he opened up his own barbershop called grooming unlimited a lot of New York Yankees got their haircut there, There was a nice little room in the back for making bet, What’s interesting about these portraits these mob guys who ran Elizabeth New Jersey back in the 40s and early 50s new Sal was gay Sal use to joke and say he hypnotized them If you go to the section tough guys of New Jersey in Chicago you’ll see a lot more bad ass Italian portraits
I guess I could put these images on my website and explain who they were, over 70 years ago there was a barbershop in Elizabeth New Jersey called Henny LaSalle’s of course it was a mob joint my great uncle Lou cut here there as far back as the late 30s There’s a book out called the Peterstown press you’ll see lots of photos of these guys Sal took them in his studio down the street and also in the Barber shop / Booky joint these are the original Sopranos I have all the original negatives an their names maybe I will put them in my book I just love their expressions they knew Sal was gay but they still let him take their pictures Sal was so far ahead of his time
Try to understand this crazy story on March 27, 1981 there was a giant freighter in the international waterway 30 miles off the shores of Key West, the cargo was over 200 tons of panama red marijuana as we called it the wicked weed The marine patrol, And Coast Guard was on their ass they ended up dumping thousands of pounds overboard for some reason the entire Florida Keys we’re fishing that night ha ha but the big freighter got busted the largest drug seizure in the history of South Florida, at the time I was working for the Key West Citizen newspaper as a photographer and guess who was first photographer on site me, Lisa and I just got done partying all night till sun rise I ended up landing a Front page story with photos also sold the images to the Miami Herald and high times magazine so here’s the funny part the deputy sheriff with no gun a born and raised conch that means he’s from Key West One of the bubbas as we called them there were so many bales they had to take everybody out of the county jail to unload the freighter, so are you ready for the funny part five tractor trailers came down from the burning facility to pick up all the weed motorcycle police escort five trucks left Key West four arrived they lost one truck At the time I was very good friends with the managing editor of the newspaper Roger Bartel I was there when he got the call About the missing truck the police said don’t do a big write up on it play it down After all the smoke cleared Key West had so much incredible weed on it we couldn’t give it away it was very hard to get it off the island Key West the way it was
Arcadium hall Westfield New Jersey back in the 40s it was a dance hall big dance floor and large stage, A friend of mine rented the entire building his wife was a photographer they had a great studio there I actually got to shoot there a couple times, crazy thing we found out through some old records Sal played the piano there and performed his mind reading act back in the late 40s so we brought a bunch of masks over there and did a cable TV special I post it from time to time on Facebook So here’s the bizarre thing my friend Vincent Maranca Who is married to the Fashion photographer in that building called a clairvoyant so we can try to communicate with Sal That’s the photograph you’re looking at I don’t wanna get into what happened that night but something definitely happened it changed my whole life on my inheritance from Sal I also hit the numbers that day the year I was born in the year so I was born 1156 It was only $4000 but it was a sign no bullshit on this one
Anybody who knows my work knows I set up on many intersections in Manhattan photographing anybody interesting walking past me my digital library mia5.com has over 65,000 images on it that I have been editing out of for many years It’s still an art project in the works like all my other websites anyway I was standing on 38th St and 8th Ave., Always a very interesting group of people that walk around there, from a half a block away I saw this man carrying a baby sucking his thumb I knew if I took the photo there could be a problem with this guy I didn’t realize he was holding a baby doll I took the photo with my fill flash because it was very dark he stopped and said what the fuck are you doing motherfucker and grabbed the baby doll by the legs like he was gonna swing in at me I’ve been attacked with frying pans skateboards and purses never a baby doll luckily he walked away but I froze the moment
Most photographers specialize in certain things since I’ve been a Published photographer for over 42 years I have lots of specialties capturing the evil wicked nightlife is one of my specialties there’s a bar in Queens called the music box it’s the first gay sports club crazy things went on there cute guys dancing on the bar female strippers going there to look at the male dancers and tip them then you have your lesbians in large groups trying to pick up the female strippers while all that’s going on the place is packed with transvestites and female impersonators in fact The surrounding blocks outside have all types of prostitutes I wanted to document the whole thing from A to Z so I got an apartment around the corner from the insanity if you go to my website portraitsofnewyork.com And go to the category in and out you will see you some wild things This photo is an example every night from 10 o’clock in the morning till four the place is packed everyone’s having the time of their life and then they have their private parties from four in the morning till five wow
Besides Sal making all the masks and doing his famous mind reading hypnotist act he played the piano and took all the photos for the bazaar traveling carnival the world of mirth late 40s the masks on the right have some spiritual powers most of them are at my house as I’m writing the story they’re actually looking at me I’m in the mask room at the house the photo in the middle was the tallest man in the world at the time he traveled with that carnival Sal was painting his portrait The young hot girl was one of the burlesque girls that work for the carnival When they traveled one of the midgets her and Sal or bunked together My great uncle Sal told me all those stories they will be in the book wow
