Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Tartakoff.
Katy, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
At the age of ten, I was gifted a Kodak Instamatic with black and white film and flashbulbs. I could not have been happier. I began photographing people and never stopped. Little did I know it would become my life work.
My Mom, who was a teacher and an activist, was part of the Experiment in International Living. From the time I was five, we had Sisters and Brothers living with us from Nigeria, Tanzania, Morocco… I was intrigued by their looks, their clothes, their traditions, their foods. My family would host parties with people from all over the world and they would come in their native clothes. I was in awe. I would get out my little camera and make photos to capture the beauty surrounding me. My siblings and I came to love our Sisters and Brothers and were always sad when they left.
As a sidebar, our brother Olufemi Olunloyu from Lagos, Nigeria, lived with us from the time I was five until high school. We all loved him dearly. He went to Harvard, graduated, went to McGill in Canada, came home on vacations and then returned to Lagos. He even taught me to drive. My Mom died shortly after he returned to Lagos and we lost track of Femi. Recently, with the help of Facebook, my older sister found Femi’s son. Akindele had never met his Dad. Femi had died shortly before Akindele was born. We shared stories and photos via the internet. Some of the photos I had taken as a child of Femi and my other siblings. Akindele, in turn, shared photos of himself, his wife and young son. The sharing of photos connected us instantly and while we are sad to have lost our brother, we gained a nephew.
This experience influenced the course of my journey forever. It was the precursor to doing photography for social reform, for celebrating differences, for my portrait business, for my thirst for travel, seeing what people were like in other parts of the country and the world, and for capturing people’s essence through the lens. When looking through the camera, everything else goes away and I see people for who they are – not their challenges, not their differences, not the judgements others have about them… rather for their humanity.
Photography became a way to not only tell my own story but to assist children in telling theirs. While teaching Day Care, Pre-School and Elementary School, I taught children how to use a camera and encouraged them to take photos of their world. I would then sit with them and help them make a book where they could place their photos and tell me stories. I saw what a powerful tool photography was.
Throughout college, I photographed children I was teaching, families I babysat for, students and friends. My business had officially begun. Several of the children I photographed at that time are still in my life and now I am photographing my third generation of children and families. I feel extremely moved and blessed! This is an honor I don’t take lightly.
I taught for a while after college and continued building the portrait business. Before I knew it, I had let my teacher’s license expire and put all of my efforts into photography.
I was renting a house and turned my closet into a darkroom. Prior to that, I had turned a bathroom into a darkroom and worked all night while my roommates slept and cleaned it up before everyone was awake. Later on, as a side job, I was delivering the New York Times in the middle of the night so I could have money for groceries. Judy and Ray, the distributors, had a darkroom in their home and by then, I was living in a house where I hadn’t yet created a darkroom. They gave me a key and said to come and go whenever I wish. What a gift!!!
I saw an opening at The Colour Company, owned by Photographer Bill Thach and got the job of being a black and white printer. John Sunderland, my boss, was a photographer at The Denver Post. To this day, I am still friends with both of them. Printing great negatives, horrible negatives, mediocre negatives made me a much better printer and photographer. In essence, I was getting paid to learn and to make other people’s photos look fabulous. Later I worked at The New Lab, also running the black and white dark room until I had enough business of my own to go solo. LeRoy Ullman took my place and several years later, I hired him as a full time printer for my Portrait Business. Being a great team, we worked together until 2008 when I went digital. I also ended up hiring Patti Held, who also worked at the Lab and she helped run the business. We became like family. A generous photographer I met let me share the rent on the studio he was using. Ironically, he was never there and I was always there. After turning basement bedrooms, living rooms and other spaces into temporary studios, I now had a REAL studio.
In 1987, after having the portrait business for 10 years, I also created a non-profit working with children and families with life-challenging illnesses such as Cancer, AIDS, MD, Burn Survivors… I used photography to document their lives of healing into death and healing into wellness. I also taught the children and their family members how to make photos so they could show the story from their perspective. Kodak donated film and Polaroid donated some cameras and film for the kids to use. Lauren Casteel, currently the head of the Women’s Foundation, at the time part of the Hunt Foundation, believed in my vision and helped me get my first Grant. Between people like Lauren, my long time clients and friends, families who had faith in my vision, The Children’s Legacy grew and little by little, money started coming in to support it. I brought The Children’s Legacy project to Children’s Hospital Burn Camp up at Camp Cheley in Estes Park. I fell in love with a camp counselor, we got married, bought a house and I built a beautiful darkroom with the assistance of LeRoy. LeRoy is still my dear friend and go-to person when I need help with photo equipment or photo questions.
I closed The Children’s Legacy after 15 years, had already ended my marriage, continued doing my portrait business and went on to spend several years creating a book of women and men with Breast Cancer. This was in honor of my Mom and Grandmother who had both died at 50 from Breast Cancer. Getting funding was challenging. I wasn’t able to get the book printed and distributed without the generosity of those willing to donate funding. Gratefully, enough people came forward and the book was published. It is a book of life. A book sharing thoughts and feelings of love, vulnerability, of fear, and of hope. I commend the women and men who were courageous enough to share their stories with the world and allow themselves to be seen in the midst of a sacred and frightening time in their lives.
Currently, I continue growing my portrait business and have started marketing my Fine Art landscape, wildlife, Milky Way and bird photos. In addition, I also continue doing social reform photography. I am a firm believer in giving back. I have had the honor of photographing the children and their families at Anchor Center for Blind Children, do mini-workshops with children from Logan School, do a brief stint with OFA documenting rallies and events to affect change, photos for the Women’s Foundation in Denver, photography for the DU School of International Studies and several other organizations. I am proud to have been chosen as an honorary Board Member with the Women’s Regional Network photographing women leaders and activists from India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka who are ending violence against women in their countries and promoting education for girls and women. I could not be more grateful or more humbled. Being a photographer documenting life from Birth to Death is a sacred journey people allow me into. Being on my third generation of children, I cry each time a man or woman I photographed since birth walks through my studio doors with their child or children in their arms. My work is about love, life, relationships and touching peoples lives by honoring their life history. For this, I am eternally grateful.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Creating a portrait business and developing a solid reputation in the ’70s took many years. I specialized in black and white portraits of children and families when color had become popular. My family, friends, and clients all questioned why I would want to do black and white when color was now available.
In time, I became recognized for my archival black and white portraits. As mentioned earlier, I am now proudly and humbly on my third generation of children.
When I started my non-profit working with children with life-challenging illnesses and their families, people said it was depressing and would rather donate to things like Make a Wish. Colorado is blessed with numerous, amazing, non-profits all vying for the same funding. Writer Rebecca Lee came on board and with the addition of her poetry, prose and grant writing, we were lucky enough to win Outstanding Non Profit in the State of Colorado from the El Pomar Foundation. That opened the door for other funding and grants. Also, we had created a loyal following when people saw the effect The Children’s Legacy was having and how it was more about love, empowerment, telling stories that yes, were hard to hear, but none the less, they were real. Many people came and went from The Children’s Legacy, all helping out, all making a difference, all keeping the vision alive when there were times we weren’t sure we could keep it open.
All of the programs and services The Children’s Legacy provided to our families were completely free of charge. While we worked nationally and in some cases internationally, the money needed to keep the program going and growing took creative financing. Rebecca did a remarkable job with her grant writing and was able to generate enough funding along with our donations from individuals, businesses, and sales to keep us open. There were many times we just didn’t have the funding to stay open and had to figure out what we could do. We had fundraisers, gallery exhibitions, published many books, created workshops for children and their families, created an educational outreach program which Rebecca Lee, MaryKay Massey and myself implemented and traveled with throughout Colorado and parts of the U.S. Sometimes we had the children themselves come and share their photos and their stories. All of our work revolved around photography and writing to teach children and adults how to celebrate differences and simultaneously, celebrate life.
With the advancement in technology and smartphones, everyone is now a “photographer.” While the quality and depth of the photos I make is different, the accessibility for people to make their own photos makes it more challenging for me to keep generating business. I trust I am here for a purpose and a large part of that purpose is to make photos which capture the beauty and the essence of the human spirit as well as of the world around us.
Every day has its challenges. Every day, I get to do what I am more passionate about and more dedicated to than ever. I am indeed blessed to meet the people I meet, travel the world, take photos of the world all around us that people often forget to stop and see, and with luck, I will take photos until the day I die.
Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I continue taking workshops, classes, learning, listening, expanding beyond my perceived limitations and pray I can make a difference while doing what I love.
My friend Marianne, who does all of the mounting, matting and framing has worked with me for 25 years. We have seen the world and the business model change a great deal over this time period.
We are both perfectionists when it comes to our work. We each want to be proud of each photo that leaves the studio.
I am old fashioned in that I am devoted to providing caring service, making sure our clients LOVE their work, guaranteeing our work, making sure it is all professionally done with high-quality materials. The finished work is stunning. If someone is unhappy, we will do whatever it takes to make them happy for no extra charge. Each person matters to us no matter how large or small their order is.
Most of all, we want people to know they matter. We want them to know they are important to us and that we value them for who they are and are ever so grateful they choose to work with us.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Many people do not like having their photos made. After more than 45 years of making portraits, I am able to put people at ease, find the right angles and the right lighting to where people say: I love my photo. I consider my work to be PHOTO ART. My intention is always for people to see their innate beauty and to have a positive experience.
If people are not initially happy, I re-do the photos for no charge. Having professional photos is an investment I don’t take lightly. I work lovingly with the people who come in and in most cases, have developed long term relationships with them. Being a photographer is an honor and a privilege. I value those who choose to come for photos and am committed to doing the best I can with each and every person or family who comes to me for photos. I believe the greatest key to the success of our business is the relationships we have developed over the 45 years I have been making photos. DenverAList has selected me as number one portrait photographer for 2016, 2017, 2018. It is testimony to the depth of relationships we build and the care we take with everyone who comes to us for photography. I say we because while Marianne Weiner isn’t making the photos, for the 25 years she has been mounting, matting and framing the photos, putting the final touch and the final care into them, she has also been a pivotal part of caring for our clients and sharing her loving presence. I feel quite blessed and grateful every day. Last but not least, without the support of my family, friends and long time clients, I would not be where I am today.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8246 Northfield Blvd. #2520
Denver, CO 80238 - Website: www.katytartakoff.com
- Phone: 303-520-9587
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: Katy Tartakoff
Image Credit:
Photographer Katy Tartakoff, Photo of me: A Young Woman from Cuba (protecting her identity)
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