John Vincent Veltri

Documentary filmmaker, internationally published photographer and author John Vincent Veltri peacefully passed away at home in Mount Shasta, California on September 26, 2022, surrounded by loving family and friends. John is survived by his beloved wife and business partner Marguerite Lorimer, his loving children Michael Veltri, Selene Veltri and Michael Simons, grandson Kyle Brandner, goddaughter Carmen Ringor, sisters-in-law Susan Anderson and Janet Hildebrandt, brother-in-law Stan Gittings, nephews Jamie, Troy and Anthony Gittings, and adoring "Heart Daughters" Atsuko Yasuda, Manon Laboureur, Kyung Lee, and Amy Alston. John's younger sister, Joy Gittings, died in 2020. John was born in 1938 in Newark, New Jersey, the first child of Myrtle (née Campbell) and Vincenzo (Jimmy) Veltri. After moving from New Jersey to Kentucky and then Chicago, the family relocated to California. Upon graduating high school, John was the recipient of a scholarship to the prestigious Pasadena Playhouse. Passing up an invitation to work at Warner Bros. in Hollywood, he instead chose to attend San Francisco State City College. John's photography-filmmaking career began in California and led him to a ten-year stint in New York, then to places throughout America, Europe, New Zealand, Australia, the Caribbean, and back to California. His hard work, media skills, integrity, and years of learning from and working with traditional elders and teachers from a diversity of cultures led to the creation of his multimedia production company, EarthAlive Communications. Prior to his documentary filmmaking career, John was the sole owner of a successful commercial photography business in the heart of Manhattan. He illustrated numerous books and magazines and worked for prestigious publishers such as Newsweek, National Geographic, Reader's Digest and Doubleday. While photographing the Statue of Liberty for Newsweek's popular Wonders of Man book series, John captured never-before-seen views of by climbing deep inside the statue's torch. His most daring shots were taken while leaning out the open floor of a helicopter to photograph The Lady as the pilot (illegally) circled her crown. John also photographed the architecture of world-renowned architects, including mid-century modern architectural innovator John M Johansen. Johansen became a good friend and at age 90 commissioned John to film him and create a comprehensive website of his architectural accomplishments. While in New York, John commercially photographed art, dance, fashion and automobiles. His unique views of Manhattan, captured during the construction of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in 1969, were shot from an open 101st floor window - before any windows had been installed. He also photographically documented the rise of the Civil Rights movement and anti-war demonstrations in New York City in the late 1960s. John was the architectural photographer for Jimi Hendrix' legendary Electric Lady Recording Studio in Manhattan. In 1968-1969 John was lead National Geographic photographer of an ancient (300 BC) Greek shipwreck off the northern shore of Cyprus. Valuable stereo photogrammetric images, captured by John over a 2-year period, were used to reconstruct the Ship Kyrenia, which remains on display in an 11th century crusader's castle in Kyrenia, Northern (now Turkish) Cyprus. John wrote and illustrated two of his own books: The Greeks (published by Double Day) and Architectural Photography (published by Amphoto). He also innovated and taught a self-reflective photography class for inner city youth, "Shoot Cameras Not Guns" at the Attitudinal Healing Connection in Oakland, California. John's memoir, White Man's Raven, about his first nine months with notorious Northern California Káruk ceremonial leader-medicine man Charlie RedHawk Thom, precedes his documentary filming of Charlie and members of the Káruk tribe over a period of 33 years. John's photographs are in the permanent archives of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Museum of Immigration in New York, and the University of Pennsylvania Archeological Library. One of his architectural photographs, of a block-long street in New York City in 1962, was captured by perching his 4x5 camera on the top of a tall ladder to shoot the historic brownstones in a piecemeal fashion. This enormous black-and-white image was featured in a "New York" exhibition at the Centre Canadien Architecture in Montreal, Canada, and remains in their archives. John's genuine interest in people from all walks of life, his dedication in documenting their invaluable stories, and his "You can do it!" encouragement brought him the love and admiration of people from around the world. He was a true friend to many and will be greatly missed.

John Vincent Veltri

December 27, 1938 - September 26, 2022