More about Tony

Tony began his photographic career with National Geographic Magazine in 1971. A world-class photographer, presenter and teacher, Tony has photographed in over 30 countries in as many years with a client list that is straight from the Fortune 500. Fluent in Italian and familiar with Italian culture and history, he is the ultimate combination of photographer, artist, guide and coach. 

"My intention is to personally coach my clients, and show them that they can learn how to make great photographs, improve their shooting skills in a short time, and ignite their creativity.  I want to inspire them to see their world in a whole new and creative way, by stepping into and experiencing the photographic dimension."

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 a cold December night. He was 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 original 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.  In 2009 he returned to the Amazon with several former Imaging In Italy clients for a two week photographic adventure.

"The year in the Amazon was an unparalleled adventure. After twelve months and 22,000 kilometers later, 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 and spent four months photographing the land and its people for his stock agency, Getty Images.  

"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."

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CLIENTS - AWARDS - EXHIBITIONS - REPRESENTATION

His photography is represented worldwide by Getty Images and his work 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
An Italian Love Affair - VIA magazine 2010
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
 

 

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