**Oscar & Louis ABOLAFIA**: Two grandsons of **Ovadia FISS & Esther HASSON **from Rhodes (previously posted), sons of **Polly FISS & Victor** **ABOLAFIA**.**Oscar ABOLAFIA (1935 - 2020).**He was a photographer known for his images of celebrities that appeared in many prominent magazines in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.The son of Sephardic immigrant parents, living on the “wrong” side of Broadway, where his father sold flowers and instilled life lessons , his mother hanging on to old values and traditions .Growing up in a 5th floor walk up apartment with artistic talented siblings, all struggling to make their mark, made for a colorful and challenging environment. At a young age, he wanted to get away from this sometimes stifling home life, see more, experience more of the city he was born in and beyond. He found, thru a newspaper ad, a sympathetic ear in industrial photographer William Vandivert, one of the founders of Magnum Photos, who took him on as a assistant and showed him the ropes about technical and lighting skills. He traveled all over the United States but when it came time to fly on his own, there was not enough money for all the equipment. He set up a small fashion studio on West 46 street, hung out with the Andy Warhol group, befriended Ultra Violet ( made a iconic poster of her with an American flag) and Viva and even talked her in taking her clothes off one evening to do a fabulous photo shoot. But still, money was too tight and he couldn’t pursue his dream any longer. With debts paid and 1 camera left, knowing the city streets and its secrets, the vibe and its ability to always renew itself, he recalled what Henri Cartier-Bresson said ” I’m not looking for the perfect moment, because there are no perfect moments” but what interested him was looking for something and seeing it happen!He captured Hollywood royalty in their prime, befriending the likes of Liz Taylor, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra throughout his storied career. Icons by Oscar is his first official book to gather some of his most legendary images in one place.**Louis ABOLAFIA (1941 - 1995)**He was an artist, social activist, and folk figure. His candidacy for president of the United States under the Nudist Party[1] on the hippie Love Ticket at various times in the 1960s and onward was a form of political theater or performance art.[*citation needed*] He ran against Richard Nixon in 1968 as the naked hippie love candidate with the slogan: "What Have I Got to Hide?" Abolafia previously had run in 1967 under the Cosmic Love Party, also then with the slogan "What Have I Got to Hide?"He was part of the Greenwich Village art scene in the 1960s. In this capacity, he organized love-ins and happenings that combined music, poetry and audience participation, inspiring the New York press to crown him "The Love King".] He was a long-time resident of the Lower East Side, and he sheltered wayward youths and other transients in his storefront studio in the East Village. He published a pornographic and countercultural newspaper, *Abolafia's Luv*, and had several art exhibitions from 1967 to 1970. He befriended a number of notable 1960s artists, including musician Bob Dylan, artist Yayoi Kusama, Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol (and Factory hangers-on), Canadian socialite Margaret Trudeau, and Satsvarūpa Dāsa Gosvāmī, a senior disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement. Abolafia inspired the creation of the Exotic Erotic Ball in 1979 in San Francisco, held annually for more than three decades until it was canceled in 2010. In press materials for the first Ball, which was held as a campaign fundraiser for Abolafia, he was said to have coined the phrase "Make love, not war", though the attribution is disputed. Source: Wikipedia.