Based in New York City, James Salzano has made a professional career in portraiture. Advertising assignments for international clients such as Apple, Toyota and IBM have taken him around the world. Salzano has been a guest lecturer at numerous institutions such as the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara and his work is in the permanent collections of the Portland Museum of Art and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.

His book Waitresses World Wide, a series of portraits of waitresses from around the world, some of which were featured in Detroit Focus 2000, will soon be published. Another project, portraits of New York personalities for the New York Landmarks Conservancy, is currently in the works.