Jo Ann Santangelo

Jo Ann Santangelo (b.1974) is a multimedia photographer and visual storyteller who documents everyday life in hidden and marginalized communities. She spent her childhood in Boston's Italian-working class neighborhood known as the North End. Surrounded by unforgettable characters in a constantly changing community, she began taking photographs and discovered what she was meant to do: move organically through neighborhoods, talking to people and letting them reveal their isolation, their bonds, and their humanity on film.

After moving to Texas in 2006, she began the daily practice of riding her bicycle and taking photographs along the journey. The 1,500 black and white portraits of Austin’s unseen lives in the shadow of downtown development in Austin, Texas led to her first photo essay, Austin Seen and The Arms of Progress which has been exhibited in several galleries in Austin.

In 2008, she moved to New York to attend the International Center of Photography's documentary photography and photojournalism program. There, she was awarded The New York Times Foundation Scholarship and interned with photojournalist Eugene Richards.  She began work on Proud to Serve: Portraits of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Veterans.  In August of 2010, Jo Ann embarked on a Kickstarter-funded, 28-day road trip to photograph and record the stories of 46 of the 65 LGBT Veterans featured in this project. Proud to Serve has been exhibited in galleries, colleges, universities and LGBT pride centers in New York, Oregon, California, Michigan, Arizona and most recently on a United States Naval base for their first LGBT Pride event. Proud to Serve was self published in a limited-edition photography book, which is in The White House collection of President Barack Obama.

Jo Ann resides in Austin, Texas where she continues to work as freelance photographer and collaborates with local and national non profit organizations to tell their stories.  Her work has appeared in Texas Monthly,  The Washington Post,  New York Magazine, the Guardian, Mother Jones, Edible Austin and in numerous international publications.