Eartha Kitt, c. 1958. Copyright Orlando Suero,
93-year-old photographer Orlando Suero’s life’s work is finally receiving its due, with the August 30 publication of Orlando: Photography. The native New Yorker first took up photography in 1939 at the age of 14, when his father gave him a used Kodak Jiffy camera and he began to develop film in the bathroom of their Washington Heights apartment.
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In May 1943, a few months before joining the Marines to serve in World War II, Suero published his first story in The New York Times. After being discharged at the end of the war, Suero returned to New York and picked up where he left off. He began working as a printer and by 1954, he had printed photographs for The Family of Man, Edward Steichen’s monumental exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
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That same year, Suero began working full time for Three Lions Picture Agency, and secured an assignment to photograph newlyweds Jacqueline and Senator John F. Kennedy at their Georgetown duplex over a period of five days for McCall’s magazine. From here, Suero enjoyed a stellar career as an editorial photographer, shooting a new generation of glittering stars for the glossies just as the Hollywood studio system was entering its twilight years.
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Whether photographing Natalie Wood, Brigitte Bardot, Sharon Tate, Faye Dunaway, Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson or Robert Redford, Suero understood the power of a great portrait. Here, Jim Suero, his son and co-author with Rod Hamilton, shares the story of Orlando.
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Read the Full Story at AnOther Online
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Tony Randall, while filming Fluffy, 1965. Copyright Orlando Suero,