Sylvia Bettelli Renick

Sylvia grew up in a military family and spent her youth traveling and moving frequently. Living in new and different places was a way of life that has had a direct impact on her way of “seeing” her surroundings. One of the first things she learned was the truth in the old adage that the more things change the more they are the same. While the frequent moves were not always welcome, the day to day aspect of life was mostly the same everywhere. And once she deciphered the differences in shapes, colors and sounds, life became familiar and comfortable.

“I still treasure that first moment of newness when everything has the disconnected look and feel of an abstract painting. As time goes on all the shapes and colors fall into place and become as clear as a mirrored reflection.”

She was given her first camera, a Kodak Brownie, on her 7th birthday shortly after moving to France. However, it was at the end of her journalism studies, that she discovered her “eye” and realized that her visual statements had more power than her prose. While she never put down her camera it wasn’t until several years later that she returned to the study of photography and eventually made it her full time profession, balancing her efforts between portraiture, nature and art photography.