Eartha Kitt and Givenchy Tony Vaccaro is the man on the far right with the camera. Photo by Tony Vaccaro. Courtesy of Monroe Gallery.
Happy new year to us …. Before all that happened, I got the immense pleasure of writing about the great photographer Tony Vaccaro ahead of his th birthday. I have long admired his work, particularly his fashion photos which just radiate life and energy. The ultimate mensch, he befriended many of his subjects — and even taught his one-time neighbor Marcello Mastroianni how to grow tomatoes. When I spoke with Tony, he was in the hospital, recovering from surgery from a burst stomach ulcer, but he was hopeful that he would get out in time to attend his centennial pop-up exhibition in NYC and make it to his th birthday.
I was so happy when I saw pictures of him on his Instagram — lovingly maintained by his daughter-in-law Maria — at the show, smiling, and drinking his daily glass of red wine the secret, he said, to his longevity. He turned a few days later, on Dec.
On Dec. He died peacefully at home in Long Island City, Queens, surrounded by his family. You did. You can read the story I did about him ahead of his centennial show here.
Here are some other things I wrote and published this year that I enjoyed doing. But after a 20 year hiatus, he was back tickling the ivories at Carnegie Hall, thanks to a pair of bionic gloves.
