We were lucky to catch up with Lena Agnello recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lena, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

I feel like the biggest risk I had ever taken within my photography career was accepting an offer to photograph events from the Robert DeNiro Tribeca Film Festival. At the time I was taking care of my mom that was fighting terminal cancer. I was hesitant to leave Florida to accept the offer but my Mom knowing this was a great opportunity convinced me to go. I had never done anything in my photography career to that caliber. The risk was not a bad risk in any way, it was an intimdating risk as I had no experience in something so big and I would be leaving my mom. But I am so happy I did it. I shot several talks and a red carpet. It was high intensity with the turn over rate of editing photos and running to each event. And all this while I was battling mutiple sclerois systems and the mental turmoil from that and my mom’s diagnosis. At the time I had no idea I had ms.

Lena, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I fell in love with photography my senior year of high school over 20 years ago. A the time, I knew it was my passion when I was taking it more seriously than my class peers. I truly fell in love with the craft and the street photography genre when I traveled to Thailand at 19 years old with my Mom. For a month we dined, toured the mountains, took thai cooking lessons and met many friends but the thing that stuck out the most was traveling and taking photos over seas and the thrill I got from it. I moved back to new york city and forgot about photography for a few years until I bought my Sony A7riii mirrorless camera. From there I joined the street photography community and was shooting mulitple days a week. Shooting street and fun portrait shoots is my forte. One of the most proudest moments was shooting the Tribeca Film Festival as well as one of my street photos had gotten chosen for a contest I had submitted during the pandemic in 2020. My photograph was one of the 1,000 photos chosen out of 30,000 submissions for an big covid exhibit in NYC. It also made it into the book for the exhibit.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I wish more people would take the time to better understand the depth of how much a person’s creative outlet can aide in one’s mental health. It does not have to be just from a professional stand point. A creative hobby can give a person their peace. It can realign their mental state when they are going through turmoil. I put my headphones in and go street shooting I feel like I am in a meditative state. It puts my mind at ease. I feel gratifcation. Whether it be , photographing, crocheting, playing an instrument or meeting friends in a creative community all can help one’s mental health in one form or another.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I have always found it strange when I come across other creatives in the photography community that don’t cheer each other on. Unfortunately and realistically not everyone is in your corner. When I lived in New York the photography community had always fully supported fellow creatives. But I have come across others that seem to not want to pass on a cool shooting location because they want to be unique. My theory is each person can put their own twist on the location with their theme of the shoot, props, and their purpose of the shoot. I had to learn to mentally send my well wishes and learn that not everyone wants to be so inviting. and there are still other creatives that want to see you do good, like my photography friend Erica that referred me for this interview.

Contact Info:

• Website: lenanycphoto.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/lenanycphoto

Image Credits
Shaha Ibrahim (the model with the short hair) Dawnelle Jewell (the model holding the lantern)