ARMANDO GALLO
‘Rock ‘n Roll’
Italian-born Armando Gallo made his debut as a photojournalist in 1967 from London with an interview with the Beatles upon the release of the album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band” for the Italian weekly “BIG”. Enlightened by this experience, he soon abandoned his dream of a career as an architect to start a new one as a London correspondent for the magazine “Ciao 2001” and “QUI Giovani”. In 1978, Sedgwick & Jackson published his first major book, “Genesis – The Evolution of a Rock Band”, the first comprehensive biography of the band’s early days, a period never explored in depth by any other biographical source. Two years later, after moving to Los Angeles, Armando updated and re-released the book as “Genesis – I Know What I Like” through his own publishing company DIY Books Los Angeles Inc. In 1986, he also published a book about Genesis co-founder and frontman Peter Gabriel in the wake of the release of his landmark album “So.”. Both books remain among the most sought-after memorabilia by Genesis and Gabriel fans worldwide. Armando’s new company, ARGA Images, recently partnered with Zentric of Buenos Aires to produce a groundbreaking iPad App based on Genesis – I Know What I Like, followed in February 2014 by another app, this time dedicated to Peter Gabriel—So 25th-anniversary album tour.
Armando has photographed all the greats of music, including Bob Marley, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Frank Zappa, U2, Pink Floyd, ELP, Deep Purple, David Bowie, Lou Reed, R.E.M., The Who, Queen, and many others. His photos appear on the covers of albums such as “Seconds Out” by Genesis, “Play Live” by Peter Gabriel, “Canzoni per Me” by Vasco Rossi, “Fly” by Zucchero, and others. Armando also directed and produced the video “Even Better Than The Real Thing” for the video anthology “Achtung Baby” by U2.
Since 1975, Armando has lived mostly in Los Angeles, where he has worked in the world of cinema and entertainment as a correspondent for “TV Sorrisi e Canzoni” the top Italian weekly, for which he co-created the Telegatto Award with Gigi Vesigna and Rosanna Mani. Armando has been a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association since 1978 and, in this capacity, one of the voting members of the coveted Golden Globes Award. His images of Hollywood stars can be seen in many international publications and countless magazine covers worldwide. He has also received many awards, including two Telegatto and the “Traveling Heart Award from “Hitweek.”.
In the mid-1980s, following the world wide success of his Genesis book he moved his publishing company to Rome and with his brother Claudio he formed Fratelli Gallo Editori. The company published about 40 biographical books on rock artists and the monthly magazine PIX Photorock, dedicated to the artist of the month illustrated by their personal photographer. Since 1990 Armando has been writing and photographing the major Hollywood stars. Canon USA produced its first photography exhibition at its West Coast headquarters in 2017.
Now, in this prolonged period of Covid and insane political unrest, he is taking a favorable opportunity to collect, in a book, photos and stories of the artists who have inspired him in his 50-year career as a journalist and photographer.