Ron Galella
About the Artist:
Ron Galella is widely regarded as the most famous and successful candid celebrity photographer in the world. Dubbed “Paparazzo Extraordinaire” by Newsweek and hailed as the "Godfather of U.S. paparazzi” by Time and Vanity Fair magazines.
He served as a United States Air Force photographer during the Korean conflict before attending the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, where he earned a degree in Photojournalism.
Born in 1931 and raised in the Bronx - twelve miles from Manhattan - Ron crisscrossed between the East and West coasts of America, with numerous stops around the world in-between.
His two most popular selling images are Windblown Jackie and the Lennon and Jagger photo gracing the cover of Ron’s latest book, 100 Iconic Photographs, A Retrospective by Ron Galella. In 2016 Time Magazine proclaimed Windblown Jackie, “one of the most influential photos of all time.”
During his unprecedented career he amassed the world’s largest archive from a single source dedicated to popular culture.
In April of 1979 Galella married Betty Burke Galella, (February 24, 1948 - January 9, 2017). Betty was born in Somerset, Kentucky, and raised in Arlington, Virginia.
Ron’s work has stood the test of time. Today his photos continue to be regularly published and broadcast globally on news programs, magazines, books and in documentaries. His prints, coveted by private collectors, are represented by numerous galleries around the world.
Ron’s dedication came at a cost: he had five teeth knocked out and suffered a broken jaw by the hand of famed actor Marlon Brando who sucker-punched him. He also endured another serious beating by Richard Burton’s bodyguards en route to his hotel– with a brief stop-over to a Mexican jail cell. Further, Galella was also involved in two high-profile legal battles with Jackie Onassis.
Andy Warhol called Galella his, "favorite photographer.” We had the "same social disease,” Ron commented, speaking about their compulsive interest in celebrity.
In 2009 the government of Basilicata, Italy, graciously honored Ron―whose father, Vincenzo, was born in Muro Lucano―by making him an honorary citizen.
Ron's passion for photojournalism and his craft has also given rise to many highly acclaimed photo-art books, including Disco Years, which was honored as Best Photography Book of 2006 by The New York Times. In 2003 fashion designer Tom Ford produced the art book, The Photographs of Ron Galella (with a foreword by Diane Keaton), and designer Michael Kors named his 2004 line, “Galella Glamour.”
In 2010, Galella was the subject of Oscar-winning director Leon Gast (When We Were Kings, 1996) film, Smash His Camera, a documentary about his life and career. The film received the Grand Jury Award at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.
Ron Galella passed away quietly at his home on April 30, 2022, he was 92.