Denise Tarantino. Photographic Arts.

Analog Photography.  Film.  Instant. Polaroid. Alternative Processes. 

  

The four questions collectors always ask: 1) What is photography?

2) Should it be considered art, or is it a means of documentation?

3) What makes for a good picture? 4) What's the best way to make money as a photographer?   

 

Photography is the art of observation.  It has zilch to do with the things you see and everything to do with how you see them.  The best thing about a photograph is it stands in a single moment, even when the subjects in it recede from view. Photography stands in broad latitude. A single photograph can display love and indifference while drawing fine lines between compassion, sympathy, and empathy. The moment caught in the frame is forever frozen in time. Every single nuance is recorded and itemized, long after the whole lot is forgotten.

 

Photography spans all languages. One image can easily possess a global footprint. A photograph enables common understanding, sparks discussion, and is debated in hundreds of languages while wrapped in the infinite layers of cultural context. Light is photography. I've invested literally years of my life chasing, embracing, and patiently waiting for the right light. It is the most important element. Know it like a pair of old jeans. To take a good photograph you have to know where to stand. A great photograph is knowing where to stand when the light is right. 

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Photography is not for the fainthearted. The age-old photographer's joke holds true: The quickest way to make money as a photographer is to sell your camera. The camera is an instrument that teaches us how to be present to connect with humanity, nature, and the greater world. Making photographs is savoring life intensely, in a hundredth of a second moment. The art of photography is all about directing the attention of the viewer to see what you see. I relish watching and listening as people engage with my photographs. I thrive on the convergence of my capture with viewers' unique interpretations.

 

BIO

I obtained a BFA in design and photography from Kutztown University. After completing my undergraduate work, I continued photographic studies at the International Center for Photography, NYC. Born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a serious bone condition that also led to profound hearing loss, I've been physically restricted since before the age of one. Standing on the sideline has provided me the gift of a keen ‘observer’s lens,’ which is what defines my ability to find the hidden nuances and humor in circumstances and places that are often overlooked. It’s this same trained eye that drives me to illuminate the forgotten treasures held within the offbeat objects, roadside stops, and forgotten places of our rural American landscape. I also incorporate my lifelong preoccupation with salvaging and up-cycling photographic equipment into creating imagery. My ability to retrofit analog cameras and experience with film leads to unexpected outcomes that push traditional photographic boundaries.

 

My work is shown and collected internationally. My photography has received awards and accolades from galleries and museums throughout North America.  I have the honor of being named one of the top 100 emerging fine art photographers by Photographer's Forum magazine, an award-winning quarterly publication dedicated to quality reproduction of photography.