Artist Profile: Hedi Desuyo

Originally from Germany, Hedi B. Desuyo began her photography education in 1955. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1962 and became an archival photographer in Witchita Falls, Texas. From there she found her way to the Bay Area where she studied professional photography and science, receiving her AA degree in 1986.

That same year, Desuyo had her first solo show in Danville, followed by a a show in Benicia. Since then she's exhibited in over 100 shows all over the country, winning dozens of awards. Desuyo's photographs are part of private collections in the U.S., Germany, Japan, and Australia, as well as corporate collections including Johns Hopkins, Kaiser Permanente and Apple Computer.

Desuyo travels as a photographer. “It is trans-formative, it plays with the intensity of my very existence,” explains Desuyo. ”When I travel I photograph from the gut … or in the best instance, from the heart.”

She finds herself in different cultures without the advantage of speaking the language, so she communicates with gestures. She relies on eye contact to confirm that she has permission to take a photograph. “I like to photograph from that place of vulnerability, it results in a different kind of image, “ she explains. “It’s like being tossed into a fast stream - I am not of the water, I am with it. It touches my soul when I feel I have captured the essence of a whole country in the expression of a young boy...”

Desuyo is intrigued with photography's relationship to time. She captures a fleeting moment that will never repeat itself exactly in the same way. Most of Desuyo's images are about places and things that display the effects of time. “For me, gathering these small fragments of time is the magic of photography.”

A member of , Desuyo is well respected by the local art community. Aside from photography, Desuyo lectures on a variety of topics like photography, creative women and the history of botanical illustration.