We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ellen Denuto a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ellen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I have several meaningful projects which in some way are connected involving love, loss and their remaining memories.

I seem to be the repository for things people can’t let go of- due to guilt or sadness, as if the owner or their memory will vanish by letting it go. So, these objects are bequeathed to me as”props” which places the guilt on me. Many of these objects are quite beautiful, unique and interesting
– and I feel sense of responsibility for them.

Photographing these things became the basis of my series ” Before I Let you Go” which tells the story of each object’s owner and history- when during the Hurricane Sandy clean up, I now was going through the very same objects my father refused to dispose of after a catastrophic flood at the same house years earlier. Being asked to go through these items again this time with my sister was madness-
so to keep my sanity I began recording each object and sent what I could on it’s way to the great beyond.
Subsequent images in the series “Where Spirits Speak” and “Alone in America” expand on the concept and sense of place and belonging by photographing the changes in home interiors as their inhabitants change and age over time; exploring our human connection to our environment and things.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Introduction to Ellen Denuto Photography

For more than 30 years Ellen Denuto has been creating intimate portraits and still life using the magic of available light. Her creativity and personal vision have won fellowships and exhibitions around the world for her advertising and fine art imagery.

Some of the clients who have carried her visual signature include:
Book covers; 100 New York Photographers, The World’s Greatest Black and White Photography, Legendary Brides, Where I Come From, Author Portrait Don Miquel Ruiz- The Four Agreements.

Apple Computers, Hallmark, Starbucks, Target, M&M Mars, Safilo Eyewear, Penguin Books, Seiko Watches, The Body Shop, New Jersey Bride Magazine to name a few.

Biography: Ms. Denuto, Founder and President N.J. Chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers is a regular juror, guest speaker and workshop leader for the (PPA) Professional Photographers of America,(PWP) Professional Woman Photographers, SOHO Photo.
She has been an adjunct professor at NYU, Seton Hall and CCM- currently at BergenCommunity College.
She works with children and adults of all ages teaching them how to find their voice through the gift of photography. After studying Art and Education in college, Ms. Denuto worked with the Agfa, Minolta and Ilford Corporations as guest speaker and contributing photographer for their product publications and trade shows.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

When I was just beginning as an artist I wrote something like:
“I’d like to touch people as music does, recalling a memory or moment in time.”

Once I picked up a camera, I realized I had found my voice and a way of capturing those moments words could not explain. It was then that I decided to share the gift of photography with others so they might also find their voice where words failed.
As a professor and teacher I can see when the “light goes on” and a student “gets it” whether it is how to see and capture light, understanding film processing or simply when they discover a beautiful image, capture it with their camera and share it with me. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of what I do.
Taking photographs has been my means of expression for most of my life. Rarely does a day pass without me capturing something to share or save for myself, a memory of the day, beautiful light and shadow – the beauty in the everyday.

In my own work- recent themes have been about simply recording life around me -the memories objects hold, homes as they evolve with their aging inhabitants and the stories of our ever changing urban landscape of abandoned places.

Several families have been in my life for over 30 years- capturing bedrooms, kitchens, yards with every visit has resulted in a powerful documentary I could not have imaged when I was young.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think the hardest thing for non-creatives to understand is why, (when artists live on grant funding, in low income housing or struggle to survive in the “normal” world ) don’t we just “get a job?”

It’s not that simple, or easy to do if you are a creative being or visual learner (as many of us are called today- ) we simply cannot sit at a desk working with numbers or be confined in an office-
It’s not in our nature.

We need the freedom to be out in the world, to explore, follow the light, travel, see and make art
alone or with other creatives when opportunities arise or the moment is right.

It’s not being indulgent it is simply the way creativity shows up- when it feels like it.

Artists have a gift that the public LOVES to see but many times will not pay to own, which would support the artist who created the work.

– we are resilient, and use our creativity to find ways to make life work.

I have made small fortunes shooting for advertising clients and taking stock photographs for major agencies- before the days when images were up for grabs for pennies or royalty free on the internet.

When commercial work was no longer available, I created private workshops, gave lectures, juried shows and began teaching photography to diverse audiences. Currently I am an adjunct Photography Professor for Colleges and Universities in the area. My favorite classes were continuing education students at NYU where I created the digital portfolio project class- students had to focus on a theme or subject and create a printed book of their images and narrative.

Contact Info:

• Website: ellendenuto.zenfolio.com, ellen-denuto.com, ellendenutophotography.com
• Instagram: ellendenutophoto
• Facebook: Ellen Denuto
• Linkedin: Ellen Denuto

Image Credits

All images are taken by me ©ellendenutophotography