Born in Brooklyn New York, Donato Di Camillo is one son of three siblings born from Italian Immigrant Parents.
As a child Donato suffered behavioral problems with anger, he would soon be expelled from school at the age of sixteen for violence, then finding himself in and out of behavioral institutions and jails.
Ironically Donato became intensely interested in photography while serving out a federal prison sentence in Petersburg, MCI, Virginia“I was always interested in magazines like National Geographic and LIFE. When I was a child I used to dream about being on adventures,exploring, always fascinated about other cultures in different parts of the world”
Since his release in 2012 Donato taught himself to use a camera while being on home confinement. At first he photographed, bugs, plants or anything else within the 120ft of his home, which he was restricted to.
Donato was featured in multiple publications and news broadcasts around the world, such as, BBC, Washington Post, CBC, Huffington Post, and was invited to speak at the prestigious HEARST magazines annual summit.
Di Camillo continues to focus on people and plans to put out his first book in 2020. He currently resides in Staten Island, N.Y.
About The Collection
An old-timer once told me, “Shoot what you know,” so that’s what I did. I took pictures of the streets that I grew to know so well. I took bits and pieces of ideas from photographers who came before me and created what I like to think of as my own unique interpretation of life. We are all human beings, and we all share a commonality. A photograph should evoke feeling and emotion, it should bare its soul.
