Joseph Ciaglia Jr.

Joseph Ciaglia, Jr. passed away peacefully on September 4th 2024 in Taos, NM. He seemed to coexist with his Parkinsons rather than battle it; as if a kind of handshake agreement had been struck long ago and both parties went about their business of living and dying.

Joe’s pragmatic and curious mind led him cross country many times, but he first studied photography in 1969 with Minor White in a special program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He went on to complete a BA at Reed College, Portland, Oregon (1971) and an MFA in Photography at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence (1973), where he studied with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind. Ciaglia operated a commercial photography studio in Philadelphia from 1980 to 1990, at which point he went to San Francisco and began working with corporations to produce interactive computer programs for employee training. In 1999 Ciaglia began teaching the digital image at the University of New Mexico, and he also began to concentrate on making panoramic photographs of the Southwest landscape.

Joseph Ciaglia’s work is represented in the The Seventh Annual Portfolio of the Photographic Education Society at RISD, as well as at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, and of course by the myriad photographs in treasured, private hands.

He is survived by his half sisters Erica and Rebecca, and by a community of fellow artists and adventurers who continue to chase eclipses, and the perfect light.

The family of Joseph Ciaglia has entrusted the care of their loved one to the caring staff of DeVargas Funeral Home of Taos. www.devargastaos.com 1-866-657-4019