di Gesu photographs ~ di Gesu chronology ~ di Gesu the photographer
1913: Born in Calatafimi, Sicily.
1920: Arrived in New York.
1927: Developed prints at a photo finishing store.
1929? -1933 Assisted Herbert Mitchell, vaudeville and theater photographer. The subject of his first professional photograph was Eddie Cantor.
1933-1936? Worked for Bachrach Portrait Studios.
1936-1943 Ran his own studio in Brooklyn.
1943-1946: Served in Army during World War II in the Philippines and Japan. Photographed Hiroshima two months after Atomic bomb blast.
1948: Married Alice Jacobsen. Moved his studio above Alice’s dress shop on Madison Ave in Manhattan.
1952: Photographed J.D. Salinger.
Late 1950s: Began to experiment with wide range color film for portraits.
1958-1961: Photographed artists, writers, and musicians using new color film developed by Kodak.
1961: “Photography of the Arts” Exhibition at Grand Central Station. 59,000 people attend.
1961-1962: “Portraits for Peace” Exhibition of United Nations Ambassadors shown at General Assembly Hall. The portraits were also displayed at the Seattle World’s Fair and the U.S. State Department.
1963: As a result of the United Nations portraits, di Gesu was knighted by President Segni and the Government of Italy.
1960s: Photographed a series of portraits of New York publishing, banking and business leaders.
1962-1967: Commissioned to do over 35 cover portraits for arts magazine, Saturday Review.
1971: Moved to La Jolla.
1971-1972: Displays portraits of San Diego area orphans at U.S. National Bank.
1975-1980: Exhibits portraits of San Diego’s “most interesting people” at the Balboa Theater
1978-present: “Hall of Honor” portraits at the Scripps Clinic, La Jolla.
1980s: Director of Art Exhibitions, United States International University, La Jolla.
1980s: Hosted “The Artists” a television show on KUSI-TV devoted to interviewing San Diego area artists.
1992: Held three concurrent exhibitions in La Jolla, Beverly Hills, and Tijuana.
1993: Died February 15.
