ABOUT THE PHOTOS 

Lil Al Vavasseur

 Lil Al & Fred Ward

Li’l Al Vasasseur was born near Port Allen , Louisiana and was one of 10 children.  Two of his brothers became priests in Louisiana .  He began taking pictures in 1968 and got into the photography profession quite by accident.  Li’l Al was invited to a show in Baton Rouge and was asked to take pictures of Danny Little Bear and Chief Kit Fox.  He also took pictures of the Chain Gang (Frank and Jack Dalton).  These were the first of a large series of photographs and the beginning of a career.

The promoters and wrestlers saw the quality of the photos and were impressed with Li’l Al’s ability.  He was asked to come back and take more pictures and the rest is history.  His career spanned from late 1968 the 1979.  He took photos for promoter Bill Watts, in various venues in Baton Rouge , and other events in Louisiana , Georgia , Alabama as well as Houston , Texas in later years.  The Li’l Al collection of photos is a virtual who’s who of wrestlers from that region.  He took photos of not only the top stars, but just about everyone who wrestled; men, women, masked teams, referees, and the little people.

These are some of the best top quality color wrestling photos in the world.  These photos have appeared in such magazines as The Wrestling News, Wrestling Monthly as well as wrestling programs.  Li’l Al not only took the photos, but also developed them in his home lab.   He often wrote wrestling articles for these magazines as well as others.

In later years, Li’l Al had some hard times and was forced to sell his photo collection.  He sold the collection to one of the top-wrestling collectors in the Southeast and that was Chuck Thornton.   Chuck kept the collection for years and I was lucky enough to obtain it from him a few years ago.   I still keep in touch with Li’l Al and feel privileged to be able to talk to him about his photos and hear his wrestling stories.  Li’l Al is currently living a semi-retired life in Louisiana .

Harley Race & Lil Al

Boyd Pierce & Lil Al

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