Who is Joe Desiderio?

Hi! My name is Joe Desiderio and I'm a photographer. Well, I'm a bit more than that; for instance - I'm an entrepreneur (Owner of Ancient City Art Gallery), a father, a brother, a friend, and someone's love, but this is my "photography bio," so, yeah, I'm a photographer. Lately, I realized that I've taken my photographic style to a different level than most and now refer to my works as "PhotoPaintings."

I was born and raised in south Detroit. I took the midnight train going anywhere. Wait! That’s not right! That’s a song from “Journey.” 

MY journey began in the northeast, where I was born and raised - Philly to be precise. YO, Adrian! get me a cheesesteak. Also, home to The Liberty Bell, Independance Hall and world-class sports teams! I have lived mostly in the Southeast, i.e. Virginia, North & South Carolina and now Florida, where I've been for almost 10 years and hope to continue living for quite some time. I specifically use the word “raised,” rather than “grew-up,” because I really don't foresee growing-up in my immediate future. I believe that whimsical nature strongly influences my PhotoPaintings.

I now reside in the oldest city in the USA, St. Augustine, FL. This city's abundant history, beauty and people provide me with endless opportunities to capture moments that I love to share. I'm obsessed with getting every shot exactly right. I agonize over presenting it perfectly so you can feel what I felt when that image was captured. This city, and the surrounding sea and landscapes, inspire me like never before. My ability to digitally "re-imagine" a shot and produce results that are often mistaken for paintings, gives me immense pleasure.

It was at St. Joseph’s University, where I added photography studies to my Psychology major and Business minor that provided me with the “basics” of photography at a time when film was film and not a name used to refer to digital storage. It was also a time when “developing film” meant spending hours in a darkroom and not sitting in-front of a computer developing digital images with a “Lightroom.” Those “basics” gave me the base of knowledge that I use today to capture that perfect cloud formation over a tranquil body of water, or storm clouds over raging surf! Give me a sunrise or a sunset and the romantic in me surges to the surface, grabs my camera and compels me to attempt to preserve that moment to remember forever! If I’ve done it right, then you’ll see and feel what I did at that very moment and it’s then yours forever too!

So, that’s my “artists' bio.” If that were all you knew or remembered about me, then I'd say you know me pretty well.