THERE COMES A TIME…

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on May 1, 2025

There comes a point in your life or career that you tend to analyze what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.

I’ve learned after my 65th birthday, that some of my decisions are not always right. What I’m about to say is my opinion, not fact. Most friends and clients love me as long as I say yes. When I say no that’s when the shit hits the fan! A whole genre of people really get pissed at me. Obviously, nobody wants to alienate friends, family, or clients. However there comes a time, when you have to stand on your own two feet and say what you believe and yes, that’s when the shit hits! It was pretty obvious to me when I left Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, and HBO. Actually, I was black-listed after I refused to sign their digital contract giving them all rights to my work.

I am going to ask 12 people to be part of a focus group to listen to what I have to say and then give me their opinion, whether it be good, bad or indifferent on a certain matter. For purposes of this blog I won’t mention names. The reason I’ve not written anything in a while is because I’ve been locked into a project which has taken 8 months and left me bloody. The great news – the client loved it and better than that they paid for it! I also had a slight problem on Christmas eve when I got bumped by a moving vehicle. I’m still rehabbing my ribs and shoulder.

Jono Korchin

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on January 14, 2025

Approximately a half century ago, I met a young man from Berkley by the name of Jono Korchin. He was a bright tough in-your-face kind of guy. At the time the two most important things in his life were photography and music. I’m pretty sure there wasn’t anything in music he didn’t know – in my opinion not so much in photography. He was okay but needed a little work. Because he was based in the San Francisco area and I was based in the New York area we only got together several times a year. Over a couple years we became close friends. To be honest I’m not the easiest going person in the world but JK always found a way of getting to my better side.© Jo

I flew out to the coast in the early 80’s & Jono picked me up in a Mercedes and there was this weird box near the dashboard. He put in an address on Cedar Alley and this magic box took us right there – the back way. Cedar Alley was a half city block long & my close friend Mike Phillips had a studio/home there. When I asked Jono what just happened he explained he was working on the beginning of GPS. Wow! To say that Jono was ahead of most of us, as the truth be known he may have been 20 or 30 years ahead of most of us. He had a concept for music where people could procure one song at a time. He got an appointment with Apple and met with the CEO Gil Amelio. They listened but rejected the concept of the one dollar song. Yet, 3-4 years later they came out with IMusic. Strangely enough you could buy a song for a dollar. Hmm…wonder where they got the idea. Considering I was born in Greenwich Village after the end of WWII there was a coffee shop or two on every block where there was poetry, music, off broadway plays etc. Jono came up with another idea and took it to Starbucks. It was called the MusicBox. Again it was turned down. I don’t have to tell you where Starbucks went after that. Jono came into New York to have a meeting with the mayor to be, Michael Bloomberg a billionaire. Are you sitting down? Bloomberg blew him off and threw him out – could be the fact he was dressed at the time a little like a Pirate as I recall. Possibly his attire would have been more acceptable in California but not so sure in a New York business meeting. But being thrown out by Michael Bloomberg wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I had a meeting with Roger Penske and 12 minutes into the meeting he threw me out. You have to understand something if you’re going to get thrown out of a meeting it’s a great thing to be thrown out by a billionaire unless of course his initials are…. Shit never mind. In the truest sense Jono was a true visionary. At the foundation, JK met a beautiful strong, and extremely intelligent woman by the name of Season who took him to the next level. Season and Jono became parents of two extremely bright lovely caring sons who loved music and ultimate Frisbee. He became a full time father to end all fathers. He was there 24/7 for Julian and Elias. He loved both of them on a plane most people could not comprehend. They will carry that love forever. I consider it an honor to have been a friend of Jono’s. I know he is traveling on another plane of consciousness probably the same 20 or 30 years ahead of everyone else. Remember Life is not a Rehearsal and you only have one take so make the best of it as Jono did.

Pain (Excruciating Pain)

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on June 17, 2024

Last week I worked one day with my new assistant, Chase. When he left, I wound up in bed for 4 full days.

When my partner, JoAnne, insisted I go to the doctor because I couldn’t walk, my neck, knees, leg, and back were shot. There wasn’t any part of me that wasn’t shot. Went to the doctor, and the prognosis was Lyme Disease.

My blood is out to the lab to see if I indeed have Lyme disease.

In my career, which stands over a half a century, I never photographed birds. I love birds, I love looking at them, I love seeing them fly, but as something that I’d like to put on digital film… it’s really not up there in my wheelhouse.

Considering I’m having a hard time holding a camera, and holding my head up, here are just a few images that were done specifically for me, and nobody else.

If W. Eugene Smith was alive, he would attempt to beat the living shit out of me for this type of an image.

Guys, it’s just fun, and Photography should be fun.

Frank and Tristan

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on May 8, 2024

Approximately 25 years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting an extremely bright, young man who was working for a dear friend of mine, Peter Poremba, who was the CEO of DynaLite. His name is Jason Etzel. Jason is now one of the super heavy-weights for Sony Cameras. When you need information on a Sony, Jason is the man to go to. For anybody who doesn’t know, I took my first snapshot at age 7, I’ve been making snapshots and, occasionally, a good photograph, for the last half century. Unfortunately, Jasons dad passed away on the 24th of April. I never had the pleasure of meeting Frank, but all indications show that he was one hell of a great guy. Jason adopted his dads dog. The following is a text I received from Jason this morning.

“Tristan passed away after a rough night on my lap this morning. Felt his head go limp, then the breathing slower, and his heart stop beating on my leg.

In many ways, it was the best way something like this could happen. No frantic car rides, no anxiety for him going into the vet … my father is looking out for him now”

I have to tell you, I really got choked up. This is the way life goes. My philosophy is that life is not a rehearsal, you only have one shot at it, so you better make it count.

On my way home from Manhattan the other evening, I took a few photographs, which I’d like to share with you. It’s with my new Sony camera and the new Sony 135-1.8.

On Creativity – An Interactive Discussion with Joe DiMaggio, JoAnne Kalish & Dennis Wheeler

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on March 28, 2024

For those of you that may have missed it. Here are some photos from our talk on Creativity at Hudson Hall in Hudson, New York. It was a lot of work putting it together but much fun. Hopefully there will be another chance to catch it again soon. Thanks to our friends for traveling that long way to come see us and thank you Mary for photos of us during our presentations and thank you Jon.

http://www.dimaggio-kalish.com. http://www.denniswheelerart.com

Melchior DiGiacomo A Prince

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on March 28, 2024

Cafalu Sicily © Melchior DiGiacomo

Circa 1972. There was a small group of photographers in New York City that came together and were not only competitors but friends. Both JoAnne and I met Melchior at a New York Ranger Hockey Game. Suffice to say, Melchior was a world- class hockey photographer. JoAnne and I were just starting out our photographic careers as a team together. Melchior was an extremely generous person. If a younger photographer had questions Melchior would go out of his way to share experience, in this particular case with ice hockey. His eye-hand coordination in the days of single punch photography was again world class. When we moved into motor driven cameras his work only got better. In our business he was known as an under shooter Three periods of hockey, each period 20 minutes and by that, what I mean is every frame counted. He did not waste film. His career spanned over a half century. He was a gem during the Golden Age of Photography.

Both JoAnne and I were honored to call Melchior a friend. He went onto being one of the greatest tennis, rugby and overall sports photographers. Once he put his mind to doing something he did it amazingly well. The photographic community has lost a great photographer and a generous contributor.

below photo © John Ferrentino

Stan The Man

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on February 28, 2024

Approximately 91 years ago Mr. & Mrs Menscher brought into this world someone I called “Stan the Man.”

Over my career, I’ve had people who became mentors to me and became close friends who have helped me in many ways. You might say, I’ve been a lucky son-of-a-bitch! A long time ago I met Stanley. Stanley was what I would call a visionary. He was up there in my book as being one of the finest advertising photographers in NYC. He had clients like General Motors, RJ R Nabisco, Burger King, IBM and the list went on. He was a master of large, medium, and 35mm format photography not to mention 16mm film. Stan was the second Instructor hired to teach the Nikon Photo Workshop. He was a great teacher, motivator, great husband, father, and a wonderful friend. When it came to the computer and putting multimedia shows together he was far ahead of his time. Stanley would put together 26 projector shows, using two rear screens, and the shows were unbelieavable. Stanley’s heart was full of love and caring for his fellow human being. The only thing I held against him was, he never smoked or drank. That’s me trying to be funny.! He and his lovely wife Kathrin would come visit JoAnne and myself maybe twice a year and we’d always have a great time. I went to see him last year and it was obvious he was not feeling well.

I’ve attached this short funny video I did when we were together last. Stanley Video I want to say, Stanley thank you for the help you gave me and for the help you gave so many other photographers over the years. You were light years ahead of us all! I will always consider you a true visionary and a beautiful human being. We last spoke at Christmas. Kathrin called and told me that you had moved onto another level of consciousness. She said you had no pain and that you went peacefully in your sleep. Rest in peace Stanley. Several friends of yours shed some tears. Love you Joe D

Magic

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on October 14, 2023

Photos © Joe DiMaggio

I’ve been around the world at least twice and it seems once every decade something magical happens. Last week a group of 8 strangers came together. Each person was extremely bright, talented, and lovely. I spent one full day making some amazing photographs of actress, singer and super star Quinn Lemley. Many photographers tend to have huge egos. If it’s one thing I’ve learned, I always check my ego at the door. There isn’t a person who is able to do everything all the time. In the real world it takes a team and we had an amazing one.

For this assignment, I was blessed to work with the actress Quinn Lemley – Superstar, Shani Grosz, World Class Clothing Designer, her Wonderful Social Media Publicist, Abby Sultanik, Mr. Wendall, a Super Stylist, Lorraine Altamura, a World Class Hair and Makeup Artist, Caroline Voigt, Quinn’s Amazing Social Media Publicist, Jon Mecca, an Accomplished Dynamic Photographer and Studio Manager. I’ve left the best for last – and Errol Rappaport who in the real world, is a Power Broker to End All Power Brokers. We all came together for the longest 12 hour day imaginable. My contribution was 1/8 of the creative group as the Photographer Par Excellence. I should also give credit to the Mayor’s office, the NYPD and Mihai (Michael) Pasalau at the New York Yacht Club (okay it was the Staten Island Ferry) but I do consider it my yacht!

I’ve always been a NYC kid, born and bred but as truth be known, the combination of Covid 19, my several bouts with Cancer, I’ve been away from the greatest City in the world for a while.

I’d love to take credit for our team prayer at the end of the evening but afraid I can’t. We all held hands and thanked the Universe for a great day. That team prayer originally emanated from Peter, Paul, and Mary who refused to go on stage until I and my son Dylan, who happened to be with me that one day, to gather together and do a prayer prior to their concert. It was a celebration of my 50th year photographing them.

I hope someday in the future the team and can together once again. I know that’s a big ask. But, what the hell… why not? I thank each and every one of you for your contribution to a great shoot. Remember one thing – Life is not a rehearsal – there are no second takes! Enjoy life to the fullest. I like to always say, “ Kick Ass and Take Names.” – Joe DiMaggio.

Christa Caceres

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on September 26, 2023

Thoroughly enjoyed photographing Christa Caseres, the Democratic nominee running for Pike County Commissioner both in the studio and on the campaign trail with her son Josiah.

Click here to donate to Christa’s campaign or sign-up to stay informed at ChristaForPike.com, email ChristaForPike@gmail.com or text/call 646-642-4915.

The System is Broken

Posted by Joe DiMaggio on August 28, 2023

I’ve come to the conclusion the system is not broken. There is no system! My agent in California tells me not to use the term in “The Good Old Days” as people will find out how old I am. I guess my agent never heard of Google!

Hell, I just don’t care anymore…

These photos are from the Good Old Days when Kodachrome 25 was Kodachrome and life was simple and the water was clear blue.