Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Caputo

Hi Steve, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

When we last chatted, I mention that I was at what some call “The Next Chapter” of a life that has been blessed with love and good health, and that the end of my working career afforded me the opportunity to explore a more creative and expressive side of my personality.

I’ve been creating images since I was handed a camera in my teens, and resonance is at the core of why I love doing what I do. The camera is my permission slip to memorialize moments of incredible natural wonder, forging a fleeting glimpse into a fixed gaze, turning the temporal into something tangible. All in the effort to make a connection.

There’s always been a strong throughline of hope and affirmation in all of my work. There is so much inspiring beauty and joy in the world around us, if only we take time to see. I feel blessed with the gifts of sight and sensibility to bear witness to that, and obliged with the responsibility of capturing it for the benefit of those who could not see it first-hand. The greatest reward comes in the connection that an image makes with a viewer. It’s more than simply liking a picture, it’s a conscious or subconscious link, a resonance between the viewer and the scene, and indirectly, between the viewer and me.

Long ago I learned how fleeting our time is, and decided then that it was not to be squandered on regrets or remorse. Since our last conversation, I’ve encountered some bumps and detours on life’s road, and have tried to leverage my art to help navigate the journey.

The energy and passion I bring to my art remains a function of the road I’ve traveled, and I hope that my images reflect the joy and beauty I’ve encountered along the way.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

In July of 2023, I received an unexpected medical diagnosis which indicated that I have cancer. (So there it is, the sentence I could never have imagined writing.) And as shocking as that is, I am far from alone, even by the measure of how many other people received that same news on that same day… (almost 2 million new cases are diagnosed in the US each year, averaging more than 5,000 per day.)

As time has passed, I’ve tried hard not to let this new reality punctuate my life, or even my day. That is a hurdle that not always easy to clear. I remind myself to look up and give thanks for each beautiful day, to live it to the fullest. More than any other, THIS is the day we can make a difference.

As this new reality began to set in, I made a decision to try to apply my photographic and writing talents to shining a light on the highs and lows of this journey, if only to illuminate the path for the next traveler.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?

Since the diagnosis, my current creative path is somewhat diverted from its original course. While I continue to pursue beautiful landscape images locally and throughout my travels, I am now also blogging and posting images and essays that reflect my current physical, emotional and spiritual states of being. My intent is to convey the sense of positivity and renewed faith that sustains me through this journey and offer inspiration to all who find themselves in situations where their hope may be diminished. These posts have come to develop a following of friends and supporters from near and far.

Everyone in this world is on their own journey and dealing with their own obstacles and challenges. My words and images are directed to helping find the commonality in our daily struggles, and to offer comfort and support in knowing that we do not (and need not) face them alone. In spite of the hurdles, there is much in life to be celebrated and we need to be reminded to look up and appreciate the beauty and the goodness and kindness that surround us.

I do not pursue this redirected avenue of creativity in order to establish a point of difference. Rather, it is my full-throated response to the challenges placed before me, and it is my desire that it might offer a glimmer of hope to others.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?

My interested growing up were like most baby-boom kids… baseball, rock ‘n roll and in my case, expression through photography. I was curious, but somewhat reserved in nature, calculating my risks along the way. I have to say that through the whole of my life, I’ve considered myself blessed with happiness and good fortune, and more than once felt that my fortitude and resolve had not been challenged. As I mentioned earlier, we all have some burden to bear and it has felt as if my health diagnosis was to be the detour from that straight and happy path. In that moment, I was determined to draw on the strength of my faith and positivity to meet the challenge head-on. I’ve tried to include some samples of my posts here. In addition, the can be found at https://www.lightofdaygallery.com/light-n-up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lightofdaygallery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lightofdaygallery/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lightofdaygallery