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Victor Laredo
Born	1910 Bergama, Izmir Province, Turkey
Died	2003
Nationality	American
Known for	Photography

Victor Laredo (1910-2003) was an American documentary photographer and author.

Victor Laredo's renowned black and white photographs of New York City were reproduced in 3 books: New York: People and Places (1964), New York City: A Photographic Portrait, and Central Park: A Photographic Guide. Laredo's architectural photographs were published in Life Magazine followed by a 4th book, Sephardic Spain, that included the architectural photographs and was written by Laredo. Laredo exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the City of New York, the Jewish Museum (New York), and the Brooklyn Museum.

Family Background

Victor Laredo's family lived in Pergamon, Asia Minor, during the last days of the Ottoman Empire. Pergamon is famous for its Greco-Roman ruins and is reputed to have hosted the second largest library of antiquity, after Alexandria. Modern location: Bergama, Izmir Province, Turkey. The Laredo family was of Spanish Jewish decent, having lived as secret Jews under the Inquisition for nearly 200 years. They left Spain in the late 1600s and moved to Tangiers, North Africa, branching off into Asia Minor in the 18th century.

Early Life

Victor Laredo was the oldest of three siblings born to Morris and Anna Laredo. Morris was an inspector of weights and measures in the service of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. After the first world war ended and the Ottoman empire collapsed, the Laredo family emigrated to the United States in 1920, entering through Ellis Island, New York. They settled in New Brunswick, New Jersey where Morris became a successful insurance salesman.

1930s

By 1930, Victor was estranged from his family because of his father's conservative beliefs. These conflicted with Victor's artistic aspirations and left wing political convictions. Moving to New York City in the early 1930s, Victor attended the National Academy of Design, becoming a painter. Under the W.P.A. program, he became an art teacher at the 96th Street YMCA with follow instructor and friend Zero Mostel.

1940s

Joining the United States Merchant Marine in 1940, Victor traveled the world while painting in his spare time. Upon the outbreak of World War II, Victor continued his service with the United States Merchant Marine, and returned to New York City when the war ended. In 1946, after losing his lifetime work of paintings in a house fire, Victor gave up painting and began to photograph in New York City in early 1947. One of his earliest photographs was a portrait of Cuban artist Carmen Herrera. In 1948, Victor met with Edward Steichen, the current curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art. Steichen bought the portrait of Herrera and included it in his upcoming show 'In And Out Of Focus' at the Museum of Modern Art on April 7, 1948.

1950s

The Brooklyn Museum mounted a solo show of Laredo's photographs from September 12 to October 23, 1950.
During the 1950s, Victor was accepting commissions from Harper's Bazaar, Charm, Seventeen, the U.S. Camera Annual, and Helena Rubinstein. Between jobs, Victor began his iconic work to document New York City, shooting with medium and large format cameras. In 1954, he took a studio space on the top floor of 10 East 8th Street in Greenwich Village. Around the corner, on University Avenue, was Cedar Tavern, the hangout for most of the painters that became known as the New York School. Victor was a frequent patron and met his future wife there, Carolynn Malarelli (Lynn Laredo), a modern dancer and former student of Rudolf Laban, creator of Labanotation based on the dance notation method. Victor and Lynne were married in 1955 at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. Their only child was born in 1956, Andre Laredo.

1960s

By the early 1960's, Victor began documenting architectural details of older buildings in New York City, convinced that old-world craftsmanship was being replaced by modern architecture at an alarming pace. He presented the idea for a book project to the Reinhold publishing company. They suggested another idea, documenting the city as a whole entity. Victor agreed to the project and, in 1961, began shooting the city full time resulting in his first book, New York: People and Places (1964).
In 1965, Victor accepted a commission from Life Magazine International to document the architectural remains of Spanish Jewish culture in Spain. After 2 years of research including several trips to Spain, the article appeared in the August 4, 1967 edition of Life Magazine International. Laredo's work was featured in the 1967 photographic exhibition 'Sephardic Spain' which was held at the Jewish Museum in New York City. The exhibition was also featured on the CBS television program 'Look Up and Live'.
After his marriage failed with Lynn Laredo, Victor met Bettie de Jong in 1968, principal dancer and rehearsal mistress for the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Victor and Bettie lived together as husband and wife for over 35 years until Victor's death in 2003.

1970s

The 1970's saw the publication of 3 books by Laredo, New York City: A Photographic Portrait (1973), Sephardic Spain (1978), and Central Park: A Photographic Guide (1979). Laredo created a vocational training program in Spanish Harlem in the late 1970's providing photographic technicians to the industry.

Retirement - Old Age

After the age of 70, Laredo returned to painting, more than 30 years later. He continued photographing as well, spending a number of years shooting in Central Park, NYC, and working on a handmade camera project until his passing in 2003. He is survived by a son, Andre Laredo, and granddaughter, Alexandria Laredo.
The only known surviving painting by Laredo titled On the Beach and painted for the W.P.A. in the 1930's is held by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.