Tony Vaccaro

Who is Tony Vaccaro?

Michelantonio Celestino Onofrio Vaccaro, better known as Tony Vaccaro or Michael A. Vaccaro, is an American photographer who is best known for his photos taken in Europe during 1944 and 1945 and in Germany immediately after World War II. After the war, he became a renowned fashion and lifestyle photographer for U.S. magazines.

Born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, as the second child of three of his parents, who were Italian immigrants, he was baptized Michelantonio Celestino Onofrio Vaccaro. His father Giuseppe Antonio Vaccaro was from Bonefro in the region of Molise in Italy. In 1926, the family moved back to Bonefro, where Tony spent his youth.

With the outbreak of World War II, Vaccaro moved back to the United States in order to escape the Fascist regime and military service in Italy. In the U.S., the seventeen-years old Vaccaro finished his education the high school in New Rochelle, New York. In 1943, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and sent to Europe in 1944.

Vaccaro fought in 1944 and 1945 as a private in the 83rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in Normandy and then in Germany. His task as a scout left him with enough free time during the day to take photographs.