spaghetti eater with cat

I was born in Pittsburgh, PA, and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1967 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. I moved to New York City with my first husband who was working in his father’s furniture business. When I was in my twenties, I met my future husband Robert Bianchi who at the time was a new photographer. He was studying under Lou Bernstein (Family of Man), a great artist and teacher who encouraged Robert to bring me to the class study groups and trips. The class looked at the works of all the great photographers as well as student work. Through this I really fell in love with the medium and the people who were involved in it. Although I loved photography, through all of this I never thought of myself as an artist and it took a full seven years before I picked up a camera. One day I was reading a magazine and came upon the work of Lilo Raymond. Something about her use of white light – its luminescence – really resonated with me. I was smitten, so I picked up a camera with new inspiration and have been an artist ever since. That was at the age of 38. I worked for years for the City of New York while I started out in photography. Because of this, I was able to retire early and devote myself full time to my art.

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