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Lifelong Passion for Photography Informed by Writing Career

When Christopher Jennings Penders was 10 years old, his grandfather gave him the gift of a Kodak Instamatic, which turned into the gift of a lifelong passion for photography.

Jennings Penders will be exhibiting some his work at the Scranton Memorial Library, 801 Boston Post Road, Madison from Sunday, April 2 through Sunday, April 30.

At age 16, he bought his first Canon SLR. He had his first exhibit as an adult in 2001 at R.J. Café in Madison. He says he sold three photos from that exhibit.

“Once I saw that others saw quality in my work, and complete strangers buying my photography, I realized I had some talent,” he says.

He then developed his first photography website, and began selling photos from that website within the year.

His favorite subjects are sunrises, sunsets, landscapes, and architecture.

“I generally don’t photograph people,” he says. “It’s not in my comfort zone.”

He doesn’t have any specific photographers who have served as inspiration, and doesn’t want to be influenced by any. He doesn’t belong to any camera clubs. He’d rather do his own thing.

He does, however, take inspiration from artists.

Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh is a favorite.

“Starry Night is probably one of my all-time favorite paintings,” he says. “Edward Hopper is another favorite.”

He says one of the secrets to his success is taking between 50 and 100 photos on any particular photo shoot, then culling through those to 15 or 20. He says it’s all in the editing, for him.

“I always get greater pleasure out of editing than I do the actual work. It’s the same with writing. I’d rather edit my work then actually do the work,” he says. “Which is not to say I don’t enjoy the process, because I do. I just find it easier to edit.”

Jennings Penders, who works at the library for his day job, also is a prolific writer. He says writing and submitting his fiction helped him develop his photography skills, and that his photography helped his writing.

“I saw my quality improve the more I wrote and the more I polished my fiction. The same can be said for my photography. The more I photographed, just like the more I wrote, the better I became,” he says. Also, “submitting my fiction to markets helped me develop a thicker skin. And when I started getting my fiction accepted, I realized that I had reached a place where other important people saw the quality as well. The same with my photography. When others, (people I didn’t even know) started purchasing my photos, I knew others saw the quality as well. So my writing helped me in ways I could never have imagined.”