Penny Clute
Posted in | No Comments »Penelope Clute, photographer.
Penny showed serious interest in photography when she bought a 35mm Topcon camera, and moved from Michigan to her first job in Philadephia. She took black and white photos of the people and buildings around her. Penny continued this after joining VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) in 1968 Chicago and began to learn to use a darkroom. Two of her photographs from that period, taken during an anti-Viet Nam War march and at a welfare mothers’ organization’s appearance at the Illinois state legislature, were published in the book Human Rights – Issues for a New Millennium by Linda Jacobs Altman (Enslow Publishers 2002).
From VISTA, Penny went to law school, worked as attorney at the Michigan Department of Corrections creating an inmate disciplinary system, and then private practice in Plattsburgh, New York. From 1989 through 2001 she was the Clinton County District Attorney, and has been the Plattsburgh City Court Judge since 2002. All of this was so time-consuming, she rarely picked up a camera until recently.
A Christmas present of private lessons from Plattsburgh photographer Shaun Heffernan rekindled her interest, leading to a Canon digital 35mm camera. Next Penny took a weekend course at the Adirondack Photography Institute taught by photographer Nancy Rotenberg. Nancy is a very inspiring and encouraging teacher, and Penny has continued to take week-long workshops from her.
Penny says that showing her photographs at Stonybrook Pottery is a leap for her, and she is enjoying nurturing her “inner artist!”
