Check Out Scott Tammaro’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Tammaro.

Hi Scott, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
From my earliest memories I’ve been obsessed with and loved everything about art. I was always drawing cartoons and hot-rods as a little kid. I got my first camera in high school and have been in love with photography ever since. I’ve had many starts and stops over the years but with each return to photography my intensity has only grown stronger. I was working with a local photographer doing school photography when living in Ruston, LA when I decided to get a college degree. I attended Louisiana Tech initially then I moved back North and finished out my studies at Youngstown State University where I graduated in 2010. I had great experiences at both colleges and studied with many talented artists along the way. At Louisiana Tech there were plenty times spent with the painters Peter Jones and the late Glenn Kennedy. Our impromptu gatherings in Peter’s office were of a lasting learning that I deeply cherish. Transferring to YSU kicked up the intensity a few notches and the-then staff pushed me and challenged me in my work. It was a lot of hard work but it was also a lot of fun too. Memorably I was fortunate to have the chance to study with the photographer Kelli Connell before she left YSU to teach at Colombia College in Chicago. Alongside actively photographing and having new projects to work within I have decades of work that’s never really been given its just due and seen by this world. Having begun to go through all of this work has been a daunting challenge but I’m methodically organizing my archives and trying my best to finish projects that have been lingering unfinished for years. This is an exciting time for me. Today I’m living a better way of life and despite all my health issues going on I’m stable and happier. I’m stoked about my new ideas but talk’s cheap and I don’t wanna talk the magic away. There’s plenty of time for talking AFTER I complete the project and have moved onto the next one.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have struggled with alcoholism and addiction during my lifetime. I’m very grateful to be clean and sober today and have been since 12.15.15. I’m an active member of a 12 Step program that has helped me. Some people find other ways to recovery. I didn’t. I’ve a grateful heart for being given yet another chance because I’ve burned through many “2nd chances” and there’s no guarantees in life. I could write a book on my health issues. My health has been precarious and I’ve been on physical disability since 2012 due to a 1989 lower back work injury. The following years have been a struggle at times with neck surgery in 2019 and lung surgery in 2025 BUT, as my doctors say, “Despite all your health problems Scott, you’re doing better than many.” and I’m very aware that things could be a lot worse, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. My photography suffered from these various reasons but it has ALWAYS been what gives my life meaning & increasingly, purpose. Especially now where I’m at today. I’m more “in the zone” than ever. But in the end I try to be humble because I know how easily it can all be taken away.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
In the beginning I primarily worked in B&W film photography. Some color but B&W was my language early on. I’ve had permanent film darkrooms & makeshift ones at times. Cameras, whether film or digital, are only tools and I’ve had periods where I religiously always carried one with me. In 2005 I got my first digital camera & carried with me everywhere. In fact, the book project of diptychs, “On A Small Planet”, I’m (finally) finishing, began with this camera and ended when the camera literally died in the summer of 2009 after a trip to Bloomington, Indiana. This project is my baby, one that for all practical purposes should have been published years ago. I just couldn’t look at those photographs. They were too painful. Too many people in them have passed and the period of time that they all were taken was one of the rougher times in my life. Time has changed all that, thankfully. I always loved doing street photography and the challenges it often presented. It’s a real theater of life on the street and one never knows what one will come upon. Over the course of time I had urges to do other things and portraiture became fascinating to my practice. I have a genuine interest in people. I have an empathy that’s become a vital ingredient to enrich the conversation between me and my camera and the person(s) in front of it. One of my newest projects is dream sequences and is completely lo-fi. I’m using pre-loaded point & shoot B&W cameras and a more rawer approach, something of a hybrid approach using film scanners and actual manipulation. BUT…I don’t want to talk the magic away. I will SHOW you not TELL you lol. As for what sets me apart from others, well, it’s what everyone has; their personality, their life experiences and most of all their curiosity. After everything I’ve been through and just turning 64 I’m just doing my own thing and curious as ever.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
A life without risk taking isn’t much of a life. Taking risks can be scary. It’s so easy to stay stuck because as painful as stuck may be it’s familiar to us. It’s comfortable. We know it. Not knowing is the scary part. In my own life and what I’ve seen in others is a person wanting to know everything before taking that next step. That kind of fear can paralyze. Obviously being in active recovery I have taken some risks. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I remember moving to Philly in the late 90’s and starting to go out into the streets with my camera. I was absolutely terrified. You look at my contact sheets and there’s a lot of photos of back alleys and buildings and people from far away. Yet I was drawn to photographing people and their actions and the closer I was to them the better my photos became. It’s interesting to look at my earliest contact sheets and compare them to those before I left Philly. My camera slowly got closer. I worked through those fears. But if I was to sit around and wait to feel comfortable I’d still be standing in Philly with my camera in my hand lol. It’s good to have solid friendships too. People who we can share our fears with without them berating us for being weak. People who share their own experiences with us. Cherish these friendships because (ahem) not everyone is going to like us, support us, etc. Getting older I can say time is my most precious gift. IF I’m unsure about a risk, a decision, a choice, I can share it with a kindred soul. This doesn’t mean that they tell me everything I want to hear. It means they’ll LISTEN first then tell me what they think. Then I should be listening lol. Taking risks can be scary but man-oh-man do they offer a person a chance to grow. It makes for a more interesting life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://scotttammaro.com/home.