John Veltri

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John Veltri is a photographer who was born in 1938 in New Jersey. He studied filmmaking and theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse of the Performing Arts, Los Angeles City College, Warner Bros. Film Studio and San Francisco State University. He began work as an experimental filmmaker in San Francisco.

From 1965 to 1975, Veltri worked in New York City where he began to photograph architecture, creating an important visual record of the places and people of Manhattan. He made photographic studies of a number of subjects, including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Jimi Hendrix' Electric Lady Studio, and 37th Street (Canadian Centre for Architecture). He also illustrated several books written by photographer Andreas Feininger.

By the mid-1970s he had returned to California where he has since devoted himself to cinema, making documentaries dealing with native cultures, and social and community issues.

Veltri is the author of several publications, including Statue of Liberty (1971), The Parthenon (1973), Architectural Photography (1974) and The Greeks (1984).

Veltri is also noted for his underwater photography from his work as staff photographer on an archeological expedition that uncovered the oldest shipwreck, Kyrenia, off the north coast of the Republic of Cyprus.

His recent feature documentary films in-production include, "Seasons of the Soul", about American Architect John M Johansen FAIA, and "Walking Backwards into the Future", about Native American Karuk Elder Charles Thom Sr.