Ellen Giamportone American artist, born in 1945, BFA in Painting and Design from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA. Upon graduation my attention switched to photography. After a mentorship with the renowned photographer, Larry Fink, I began to find my voice and became interested in documenting social issues, steet photography, and people. Upon coming to the West Coast in 1980 I began shooting photography on the streets of LA and for several years I also worked in the commercial photo world as an editor for magazines, and advertising agencies. Since 1974 I have participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout the USA. I received grants, and garnered awards in national and world-wide competitions. For the last few years besides doing street photography, social documentary series, and informal portraiture, I’ve also returned to my painting and design roots with overlaying and combining photographic images, as well as digitally painting directly on images. Recently I find it stimulating to collaborate with other artists on projects that involve my photographic input.