John Candelario was born in Santa Fe in 1916. Seen in this photograph with his dog, Cindy, on his Harley Davidson named Tarzan. A self-taught photographer, he was the grandson of Jesús Sito Candelario, who ran the curio shop on San Francisco Street during the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th century. Later the photographer managed the shop for his grandfather. Throughout his successful career he remained a local Santa Fe boy and died in his hometown in 1993.
Candelario was mentored in photographic techniques by many well-known photographers, including Ansel Adams and Laura Gilpin. In the early 1940s his exhibit of Northern New Mexico was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In 1946 he was elected to Fellowship in the Royal Photographic Society for his work in platinum-print photography.
In 1954 he became a cinematographer and received many awards, including an Emmy and Peabody.