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

Joseph, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Fifty years ago, for my 16th birthday, my father gifted me with my first Nikon SLR Camera. My uncle was a photographer and I spent a lot of time watching him work both with the camera and in the dark room. I was fascinated and when I received a REAL camera, I took pictures of everything! I started earning money right away by doing automobile accident scene photography for a personal injury lawyer, who was the father of my best friend, Lenny Marcu. Learning at an early age that I could combine a passion with earning money was a thrill. I added wedding photography to my skill set and immediately realized that was a HORRIBLE way of earning money – too much stress! However, I continued to develop my skills and looked for new ways to earn money with my camera.

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

My artistic abilities with my camera and photography developed late in life. Sure, I had some shots that I thought were amazing when I was young, but never sought to offer these works for sale. I had grandious plans to be a MD and focused on that in college. That never materialized and I got married at a young age and had a family right away. So, being an “artist” was off the table and I went into sales. I first started selling steel and other metals at a time when the US Steel Industry started to tank, overtaken by Japanese and German steel. Yep, the US did a wonderful job of updating their industry when we provided aid after WWII, but our industry didn’t keep pace. Luckily, I got into technology sales and made a pretty decent living for myself with Sales as a career. It wasn’t until I “retired” to St Augustine, FL that I again found passion in my photography and, combined with my technology prowess, “developed” a way to combine the scenes that I photographed with digital manipulation. Turned out that the end-result was something that attracted art-lovers and I was invited to join a local art gallery. After a while, I decided that I’d like to have my own art gallery to feature my work and the works of as many other artists as I could fit into the space I’d lease! Thus, Ancient City Art Gallery in St Agustine, FL was born.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I’m rewarded two ways as an artist. First, it’s an amazing feeling when people enjoy the art that I create and want to make it their own. Knowing that my art is decorating the walls of someone’s home or business is simply thrilling. However, it’s an even greater thrill when someone sees the art of one of the 18 artists that Ancient City Art Gallery represents and decides that they want that piece of art to be theirs.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I’m blessed to come from a highly creative family. My first cousin, Vincent Desiderio, is a world-renowned artist, known for his “realist” style of painting. When I first started creating, I would always keep in-mind how focused and single-minded Vincent was in his journey to create exquisite works of art. I just wanted to produce the best art that I could so that the Desiderio name might always be equated with stunning works of art. I’ll never reach the level that Vincent has achieved, but, at least locally, I am known for my creativity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ancientcityartgallery.com
• Instagram: @acagstaugustine
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ACAGStAugustine

Image Credits
JoeDes Photography (Joe Desiderio)