George Ancona
{{Short description|American photographer and writer (1929–2021)}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = George Ancona
| image = Portrait GeorgeAncona.jpg
| birth_date = December 4, 1929
| birth_name = George Efrain Ancona
| birth_place = Brooklyn, NY, US
| death_date = January 1, 2021 (aged 92)
| death_place = Santa Fe, NM, US
| occupation = Photographer, Writer, Designer, Filmmaker, Artist
| genre = Children's literature
}}
George Ancona (December 4, 1929 – January 1, 2021) was an American photo essayist and creator of photo-illustrated children's picture books. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of immigrants from Mexico. He is renowned for creating vivid photo essays that invite children to immerse themselves in new places and cultures, to appreciate the work of everyday life and to accept themselves as well as others. His intimate portraits and straightforward writings celebrate his own Mexican heritage and depression-era upbringing in Brooklyn, NY. Trained as an artist and graphic designer, he entered the children's book field initially as a photographer, and over the past fifty years has authored, photographed and designed over one hundred books that are beloved by children and librarians throughout the Americas.
Early life and education
Ancona was born in 1929 at the start of the Great Depression in Brooklyn, NY. His parents had come separately a few years earlier from Mérida, Yucatán. They married and after first living over an Italian bakery in Williamsburg, settled in Coney Island amidst other recent immigrants from Italy, Ireland and Russia. George attended P.S. 80 Elementary School and spent his free time playing and later working at Coney Island’s notorious Steeplechase Amusement Park. He painted signs for Coney Island at "12 or 13" years and as a teenager "knew I would become an artist".
At Abraham Lincoln High School, he had the privilege of being part of the elite Art Squad, led by famed art teacher Leon Friend. While in high school, Ancona was provided the opportunity to present his portfolio to the Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. Upon graduation, George traveled to Mexico City by bus, and Tamayo arranged for him to study tuition-free at the Academia de San Carlos, where he took courses in drawing, sculpture, and fresco mural painting for five months.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Returning to New York, George took night courses at Art Students League and The Cooper Union, while starting his career in design by day at the New York Times. Confident in his skills, he stopped his studies and moved to Esquire, working alongside classmates Milton Glaser, Seymour Chwast and Art Kane. With a growing family, he soon moved on to Madison Avenue and worked as an art director at Grey Advertising and later Daniel & Charles Advertising.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Career
Over the years, he had hired and learned from many photographers, and he came to realize that they were having more fun than he was. In 1961, he stepped away from his agency job to take on work as a freelance photographer and cinematographer. At his loft studio on 3rd Avenue and 33rd Street, just below the dance studio of Merce Cunningham, he took on assignments for a wide range of clients, including Children’s Vogue, Charles Jourdan and Marlboro. As a cameraman, Ancona shot documentaries around the world, and did several early segments for Sesame Street, Big Blue Marble and other children's programs.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
From 1962 to 1970, Ancona moved his family to the Gate Hill Cooperative in Stony Point, NY, where they lived alongside multidisciplinary artists including John Cage, David Tudor, M.C. Richards and Stan Vanderbeek. In 1989, Ancona and his family moved to Santa Fe, NM, where they immersed themselves in the city's culture and Spanish roots. He expanded his photography practice and was an active member of the arts community, garnering recognition from the New Mexico Book Association and received the City of Santa Fe Mayor's Award for Excellence in the Arts in 2014.{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
Bibliography
- Monsters on Wheels, E. P. Dutton, 1974{{Cite web|date=2018-09-21|title=Monsters on Wheels|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/09/21/monsters-on-wheels/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- I Feel, E.P. Dutton, 1977{{Cite web|date=2018-09-14|title=I Feel|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/09/14/i-feel/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Growing Older, E. P. Dutton, 1978{{Cite web|date=2018-09-15|title=Growing Older|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/09/15/growing-older/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Turtle Watch, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1990{{Cite web|date=2018-09-24|title=Turtle Watch|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/09/24/turtle-watch-2/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Powwow, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1993{{Cite web|date=2018-09-30|title=Powwow|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/09/30/pow-wow/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard/Harper Collins, 1993{{Cite web|date=2018-09-26|title=Pablo Remembers: The Fiesta of the Day of the Dead|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/09/26/pablo-remembers-the-fiesta-of-the-day-of-the-dead/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- The Piñata Maker, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994{{Cite web|date=2018-10-01|title=The Piñata Maker / El Piñatero|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/01/the-pinata-maker-el-pinatero/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home, Macmillan/Simon & Schuster, 1994{{Cite web|date=2018-10-01|title=The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/01/the-golden-lion-tamarin-comes-home/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Earth Daughter, Simon & Schuster, 1995{{Cite web|date=2018-10-05|title=Earth Daughter|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/05/earth-daughter/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Mayeros: A Yucatec Maya Family, Lothrop, Lee & Shepard/Harper Collins, 1997{{Cite web|date=2018-10-07|title=Mayeros: A Yucatec Maya Family|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/07/mayeros-a-yucatec-maya-family/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Barrio: José’s Neighborhood, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998{{Cite web|date=2018-10-07|title=Barrio: José's Neighborhood|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/07/barrio-joses-neighborhood-2/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Murals: Walls That Sing, Marshall Cavendish, 2003{{Cite web|date=2018-10-08|title=Murals: Walls That Sing|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/08/murals-walls-that-sing/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- It’s Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden, Candlewick Press, 2013{{Cite web|date=2018-10-08|title=It's Our Garden: From Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/08/its-our-garden-from-seeds-to-harvest-in-a-school-garden-2/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
- Can We Help? Kids Volunteering to Help Their Communities, Candlewick Press, 2015{{Cite web|date=2018-10-08|title=Can We Help? Kids Volunteering to Help Their Communities|url=https://georgeancona.com/2018/10/08/can-we-help-kids-volunteering-to-help-their-communities/|access-date=2021-12-31|website=George Ancona {{!}} Children's Books|language=en}}
Bibliographical Resources
https://faculty.ucmerced.edu/mmartin-rodriguez/index_files/vhAnconaGeorge.htm
Select awards and honors
- 1974, AIGA Best Children's Science Book Award, Monsters on Wheels
- 1978, Babbling Bookworm Fabulous Book Award, Growing Older
- 1978, N.Y. Art Directors Club Award, I Feel
- 1988, New York Academy of Sciences for Children's Science Book Award, Turtle Watch
- 1993, New York Public Library Children's Book List 100 Titles, Powwow
- 1994, Parents Choice, Texas Library Association Blue Bonnet Award, The Piñata Maker{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
- 1994, Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
- 1995, National Science Teachers Association & Children's Book Council, The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
- 1995, American Booksellers Association Pick of the List, Earth Daughter{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}
- 1997, Children's Book Council, Notable Children's Books in Social Studies, Mayeros{{Cite web|title=Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People|url=https://www.socialstudies.org/notable-social-studies-trade-books}}
- 2000, Pura Belpré Honor Book, Barrio{{Cite web|title=Pura Belpré Award {{!}} Awards & Grants|url=https://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/4/all_years|access-date=2021-12-31|website=www.ala.org}}
- 2003, Americas Award Commended Book, Murals{{Cite web|title=Américas Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature|url=http://claspprograms.org/uploads/2003_final_list-1487006711.pdf}}
- 2014, Mayor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts, City of Santa Fe Arts Commission{{Cite web|title=2014 Mayor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts {{!}} City of Santa Fe, New Mexico|url=https://www.santafenm.gov/news/detail/2014_mayors_awards_for_excellence_in_the_arts/print|access-date=2021-12-31|website=www.santafenm.gov}}
- 2014, AAAS/Subaru Science Books and Films Prize for Excellence in Science Books, It's Our Garden{{Cite web|title=It's Our Garden|url=https://www.sbfprize.org/its-our-garden|access-date=2021-12-31|website=AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books|language=en-US}}
- 2014, International Latino Book Awards: Best Children's Nonfiction Picture Book category, It's Our Garden{{Cite web|last=Comstock|first=Nora|date=2014-04-27|title=16th Annual International Latino Book Awards 2014 Finalists - Las Comadres & Friends National Latino Book Club|url=https://latinolit.com/16th-annual-international-latino-book-awards-2014-finalists/|access-date=2021-12-31|language=en-US}}
- 2016/17, Carol D. Reiser Children's Book Award, Can We Help?, The Corporate Volunteer Council of Atlanta{{Cite web|title=Carol D. Reiser Youth Service Award|url=https://www.cvcofatlanta.org/reiseraward}}
- 1996, Pura Belpré Honor Book, Pablo Remembers
References
{{reflist |160em |refs=
{{cite web |url=http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=2187 |title=George Ancona | publisher=Scholastic Teachers/Scholastic Corporation |accessdate=2008-03-22}}
[http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/george-ancona-interview-transcript "George Ancona Interview Transcript"]. Scholastic Teachers (scholastic.com/teachers). Retrieved 2014-10-15. "The author was interviewed by Scholastic students." No date.
}}
External links
{{Portal |Children's literature}}
- [https://georgeancona.com/ George Ancona Books]
- [http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/ancona Reading Rockets Interview with George Ancona]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzvYyqxzwOo Lee & Low Books Interview with George Ancona]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztr1IbZ4lAM 2014 Mayor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts: George Ancona]
- {{LCAuth|n78051709|George Ancona|110|}}
- [http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=au%3AAncona%2C+George.&qt=hot_author Worldcat Library: George Ancona]
- [https://www.santafenewmexican.com/pasatiempo/photographer-author-wrote-over-100-childrens-books/article_205ec3cc-4edd-11eb-9999-dfc65a403667.html George Ancona Obituary]
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Category:American children's writers
Category:American illustrators
Category:20th-century American photographers
Category:American artists of Mexican descent