Meet Penny Husted-Gamm | Fine Art & Humanitarian Photographer

I started out shooting fine art photography. I was naturally passionate about nature, and capturing captivating moments in beautiful places. People often call my work ‘serene’, and feel drawn to it for the emotion it evokes. I was blessed to have success shortly after owning my first professional camera. My first year of doing art fairs I did really well, and at one venue I came close to selling out of my framed work, which rarely happens! After that first year, we moved to Southern California, and I took the leap of applying to the prestigious Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens and was accepted on my first try. I won several awards in my first few years of doing art fairs.

Sustaining the success during economic downturns is more challenging. Creating art and selling at venues is expensive, so the art fairs have to be worth it. After the economic downturn of 2008/2009, it was extremely challenging to sell at art fairs. I pivoted for a while to work at an NGO with refugees who’d survived torture. For me, the pivot was worth it. I really loved the clients I worked with, and learned so much from them about resiliency.

After a short break from art fairs I took a leap of faith and re-entered that world. One important thing I’ve learned is to expand my reach. I have to think of other places to advertise or sell my work, and I have to be creative in other ways I can use my work. I’ve also learned that even though I am a very giving person, I have to be mindful of the whole photographer community, and be purposeful with where and how I give back. It hurts the community as a whole when people ask us to use our work for free, with ‘credit given’.