guy aceto photo

Photography, graphic design, photo research, Illustration and then some.

Finder of lost images, creator of new ones.  My work has been an eclectic mix of rock and roll and JP-4.  As comfortable with an X-Acto knife as I am with Photoshop. I learned the “craft” somewhere between Lamp Black and Pagemaker, Amberlith and inDesign. I believe that it’s as important to know your way around Caslon’s delicate serifs and the “avant” of Avant Guard Gothic, as it is to master the clone tool, RAW files and “collect for output.”

 

Should you stay, or should you go?

Go.

It’s really that simple. It doesn’t matter if it’s a walk around the block or 14 hours in a cramped 747 to Hong Kong, get out there. See something new, meet someone you don’t have anything in common with and find out … you actually do. Open your eyes, listen, laugh and order the meatloaf at that little diner in the old part of town.

It’s time to find your own socially distant summer, good luck.

Guangzhou, China

Rt. 15 near Dillsberg, Pennsylvania

The Napali coast, Kauai, Hawaii

Shamian Island, Guangzhou, China

Watkins Glen, New York

Guangzhou, China

Death Valley

Ocean Grove, New Jersey

A native of western New York, roots in Pittsburgh, living in the suburbs of Washington DC. and able to drive straight through to Asbury Park, New Jersey nearly blindfolded.

I was raised on sawdust, fresh pasta and homemade sauce. Paper, ink and turpentine. Vermiculite, Sakrete and a steady hand. Creativity was always encouraged, hell, it was all around you, you couldn’t miss it.

I drew constantly. I was convinced I could be the next Herblock. Thomas Nast had nothing on me as I packed up my pen and india ink and headed off to art school and a career as a political cartoonist. Oh, the dreams of the young.

I discovered there was a lot more to the world of “Commercial Art” than lamp black watercolor, sable brushes and amberlith. The roll of Kodachrome became a 16gig flash card. Dodging and burning in the darkroom became Photoshop and Lightroom (I do miss the smell of fixer). Paste up and mechanical boards turned into “collect for output.”

At the end of the day, what hasn’t changed is a good aesthetic. Good composition is still good composition. excellent design is still something that touches you, and makes you think.

I have vivid memories of heading to the hardware store in town to spend the lawn mowing money that was burning a hole in my pocket. In the back, past the wood screws and washers were … model airplanes. Plastic, balsa wood, glue and paint. A P-51 Mustang, Sopwith Camel, B-17 Flying Fortress, they all soon hung from the ceiling of my bedroom as I read about dogfights over Flanders and dangerous bombing missions to Schweinfurt and Berlin.  

Twenty years down the road I’ve found myself getting back into the hobby. I don’t consider myself a “museum quality” expert but I enjoy “the build” and hope you find something interesting.