Pedro “Pete” Vazquez was born in Laredo , Texas , October 20, 1923, He first discovered photography in the First Army, 86th Engineers, Company B, Heavy Pontoon Division. At age 20, his platoon landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, June 18, 1944 and participated in five major campaigns in France, Belgium , Luxembourg , Germany and Austria . He returned to Laredo after the war, graduated from Raymond & Tirza Martin Sr. High School in 1947 and married Edna Perez the same year with formal ceremony. He then went on to graduate Laredo Junior College in 1948. He and Edna moved to Houston where he received his BS degree from the University of Houston in 1952, working his way through school as a photographer and shooting for the U of H yearbook and school newsletter.
Dad quickly became a prolific Houston photographer, with assignments such as photographing Eleanor Roosevelt for a Maxine Mesinger interview for Entre Nous Magazine and covering bullfights in Mexico, poetry readings at the Purple Onion, flamenco dancers and comedy acts at nightclubs. He was also part of Shamrock Photo Services for the Shamrock Hilton and started Braeswood Vazquez Photography in 1961, shooting commercial and advertising photography. Dad worked at both the Houston Post (1952-1956) and Houston Chronicle (1957-1960). He carried Texas DPS Press badges from 1953 to 1958.
In 1964, he heard that NASA was looking for photographers, applied and was one of the first crew of NASA photographers. He photographed the Manned Spacecraft Center building exteriors for the first official brochure, astronaut training and portraits, Gemini splashdowns and recoveries, recovered capsules launched in the Apollo test flights and continued to document astronaut events through the Shuttle era of flight.
He was also closely involved with the Fat Stock Show and Rodeo, Salt Grass and FABA trail rides and was the official photographer for the rodeo in 1967.
He was a member of IATSE and the Professional Photographers Association. Most of all, he saw most of his life through a lens of some sort. Photographing events and formal portraits for family and friends, real estate developments for Downey Brothers, Carlos Garcia Realty, Clint Priess and Vincent Kickerillo properties, petroleum and industrial products. He also shot baseball team photos for his son's teams, the South Houston Little League Deers, Sports and Senators.
Always creative, he painted a huge roll of canvas himself and used crinkled aluminum foil as backdrops. He had a darkroom at our home in South Houston and printed his own work on photographic paper that no longer exists.
We were unwilling subjects every time a new piece of equipment needed to be tested but now have thousands of great memories. We are forever grateful.
Photo (c) Pete Vazquez Photography
