FRAGMENTS | Frank Errigo

Frank Errigo, a self-taught photographer of remarkable talent, found himself among the privileged few when the Pentagon entrusted him with color negatives during World War II. Born in Italy, Errigo and his family had immigrated to the United States, and at the young age of 19, he was deployed back to his homeland in 1943 to document the momentous Allied invasion of Italy.

While the army retained the finest of his photographs for official use, Errigo amassed a substantial collection of the remaining images. Unfortunately, the preservation conditions for his private collection were far from ideal, lacking proper climate control. Tragically, many of the color photographs suffered irreparable damage and were lost to time.