The first Photograph I took of my grandfather Captain Tony was in 1969 I was 13 years old we all went on vacation from New Jersey to finally meet the man the myth the legend even back then he owned the original Hemingway bar and a 65 foot smuggling party boat he was also doing some freelance work for the CIA during the Bay of Pigs and after this portrait right here I shot that was in 1989 he became the mayor of Key West the first New Jersey mob guy to pull it off I shot hundreds of portraits of him during the time I worked for him for seven years in the 70s and 80s my grandfather wore a lot of hats one is which most people don’t know about he was a great photographer because if his older brother Sal my great uncle they had a crazy mask photo studio above the bar on and off through the 60s and 70s on this category You will see over 1000 images with some pretty wild stories all images were taken by Sal Captain Tony and myself they all have some pretty wild stories attached to them
I have been a photographer now for over 40 years I worked for some of the top Studios in New Jersey and had my own studios in New York I also worked for the Key West Citizen newspaper as their photographer covering major drug busts and the Cuban boat lift I actually got started in the 70s doing postcards and posters for Kennedy Studios In Key West they had nine locations Miami Provincetown the Bahamas and three locations in Key West I was off to a great start I have to admit my claim to fame is covering the evil wicked night life for over 40 years I actually worked for three stripper Magazines and published over 1200 exotic dancers and did hundreds of their portfolios you’re going to see over 1000 images on this category my great uncle Sal and wild grandfather a Captain Tony of Key West were both photographers I am in charge of their images there’s over 90 years of some pretty wild photos on here with stories to go with every one of them I suggest you check them out This is an am
If you went to my image bank mia5.com you will see over 65,000 photographs that I have taken in a 40 year period It actually took me three years to edit out 65,000 out of the 300,000 that I have taken this category You are on is about three really wild photographers if you stay On this category you will see Over 900 photos with some pretty wild stories these three photographers Salvatore captain Tony and myself Live some pretty wild lives and all three of us captured it on film
You’re going to see some very interesting photos on this category I had this website for 20 years so I could document those wild Terracina‘s it’s a comedic look at a sexually driven mob family all three were photographers as far back as the mid-20s I have close to a half 1 million Images that’s what we accumulated in 93 years We lived some pretty wild lives and documented it you get to view about 1000 images with some pretty wild stories enjoy
This website you were on has been around for 20 years that’s when I designed it this category you’re on now is an art project I have been working on for over 10 years let’s just say it’s still an art project still in the works right now there is over 1000 images with stories all shot by that crazy family called the Terracina‘s The oldest one is Salvatore he opened up his first mask photography studio in 1928 he was 17, The next photographer was Sal‘s little brother the the famous Captain Tony Terracina that rum and gun smuggler, New Jersey mafia connected, eventually bought the Original Hemingway bar and then became mayor of Key West, you could read all about that in people magazine or the New York Times Anyway he took lots of photos of Key West from the late 40s through the 70s That’s when I stepped in I was his oldest grandson ended up working for him and becoming a photographer You will see a lot of my published work on this category lots of great nudes and some incr
When I first arrived to Key West in 1975 I got to bond with my grandfather Captain Tony and my dad I didn’t see them for four years one of those weird Italian things anyway Key West was a whole new world for me since I was from Elizabeth New Jersey I never realized how famous my grandfather and great uncle Sal were I started meeting a lot of famous people at my grandfathers bar Tennessee Williams,Jimmy Buffett, Truman Capote, and this Gentlemen right here Shel Silverstein he became one of my mentors in the late 70s he bought a house pretty close to mine in Key West Lisa and I would go there all the time and party like big-time at that time I took some great pictures of Lisa and Shel was doing a lot of freelance work for Playboy Magazine he had a lot of connections and was going to put Lisa in that magazine I was still an insecure wild Italian guy from Jersey I flipped and I didn’t let Lisa do it One time a couple down in Key West that were best friends with Shel invited lisa and
You have just entered the most interesting category on this website I have been working on this category for close to 20 years I have been editing through close to a half 1 million photographs all taken by my great uncle Sal my grandfather Captain Tony And myself we are all published photographers and had studios as far back as the late 20s it’s an amazing collection I picked out 900 images that I like and wrote stories about them this published story about Sal came out in 1937 that’s 84 years ago the advertisement I put on front of the paper was when Sal was booked as the worlds youngest mind reader And hypnotist he did all this while playing the piano in clubs in New York City Chicago and New Jersey he took some crazy pictures as you get deep into this category you will find some really cool subjects real gangsters from the 40s and 50s including some of my family members I published hundreds of exotic dancers live on stage and some intense nude portfolios my grandfather the cap
I have been a very lucky successful photographer for over 40 years I worked for a couple of bikini companies, three different modeling agencies in Manhattan and to put the cherry on the cake I published over 1200 exotic dancers in the late 80s in three different magazines I also had two studios at that time This photo right here means a lot not only because I was living with Miss Lisa Jo Burke on the left In Key West for two years The crazy thing is we didn’t see each other for 37 years after we broke up we ran into each other on Facebook after one week of talking we both realized we made a big mistake for decades ago we figure we better catch up on lost time we got married four months later it’s never too late to live happily ever after This was one of my first model Published Photos Key West 1980
This is my mask room where I do most of my thinking writing And posting there’s 35 packed in boxes that I take out once in a while I switch them with the ones on the wall most of these are 2 foot tall and were made in the late 40s they weigh about 10 pounds the really large ones are throughout our house those are massive the big masks have some crazy special ingredients in their papier-mâché mix pyramid scrapings from Egypt, Real authentication voodoo dust, And some crazy secret potions from around the world Definitely don’t fuck with them they’re over 80 years old and have been used in all of Sal‘s mask photography Studios as far back as the mid-30s I also had them in my studios in the last 20 years there is also a cool collection of masks that you could wear with their mouth cut out you could see one of them in the middle of these masks they were used in Cuba Indonesia And above Captain Tony’s saloon in the 60s if these mass could talk Tennessee Williams and Shel Silver
of you stay on this category you’re going to go through a incredible visual journey There over 900 images with some pretty wild stories it spans over a 90 year. My great uncle Sal opened up his first studio in 1929 and was published until his death in 1995 I myself have been a published Photographer since the late 70s not your normal photographs trust me, and if he didn’t know it or not that famous grandfather of mine Captain Tony was taking pictures in Key West from the late 40s through the 80s That’s a picture of him right there that Sal took in 1934 My grandfather was only 18 right there and already working for the mafia and doing all kind of crimes he eventually fled to Key West and became famous and then the mayor there is a great family history on this category as you go through it It is a totally new style a viewing our family history it’s an art project still in the works I post every night we have a half 1 million images between all three of us enjoy