TONY VACCARO - Lifeguard on Beeach, Termoli, 1948 Signed vintage exhibition print from the exhibition LA MIA ITALIA, shown in Germany, Austria, and Italy 1996 - 2014 Tony Vaccaro's photographs are instantaneous with an eternal touch. Perhaps eternal because in 1974 Vaccaro captured people exactly as they were with his camera. The little girl with blond braids has her eyes really tired from all the difficult embroidery work to do. As does the Vecchio Bonefrano, so happy while absorbing the sun with every pore of his skin. We can feel all this without ever having been there, because Vaccaro's photographs tell us very convincing stories, and that is the reason why they stimulate viewers. At 19, Tony Vaccaro decided to become a photographer. After a year of practice, Tony realized, with disappointment, that his photos were not any better than those he saw in illustrated magazines. He tried to find out the reasons, and came to the conclusion that the defect was in the way of pointing the camera at the subject, focusing the image and taking the photo. During these operations, the subject had time to change expression, assuming a more 'studied' one, and thus creating a false or artificial image. The only way to beat the subject in this speed race was to prepare the camera in advance, so that it was enough, at the right moment, to point the camera to frame the image and shoot almost at the same time. The action had to be so lightning-fast that it did not leave the subject time to change expression. Only after having identified this method, Tony decided he wanted to become a photojournalist. A wise decision, precisely for this reason, Vaccaro brings us photos with much charm and emotion. Now one can be touched by a hundred photographs taken between 1946 and 1970. The origin of many of Vaccaro's photos are of his beloved Bonefro, where he lived until 1939, when he returned to America at the outbreak of the Second World War. There are not only photographs of simple people, but also landscapes full of sun, fog, mist and dark rain clouds. There are photos of Sofia Loren, Clark Gable, Federico Fellini, Anna Magnani, Enzo Ferrari and Giorgio de Chirico. Here, we cannot believe that these portraits are spontaneous. And yet Vaccaro also looks at people with compassion. His portraits are animated and fascinating perhaps one can admire Sofia Loren and look at Enzo Ferrari with interest, but the spark here does not ignite. That happens only when the people photographed are not aware of the camera and speak directly to us.