In Conversation With Donna DeMari
How did you first get into photography? Was there a specific moment, person, or experience that made you realize this would become your life’s work?
I first became interested in photography at the end of my sophomore year at the University of Maryland. A budding journalist, I signed up for a photojournalism course, set to begin the following September. Required to have a 35- mm SLR camera, I bought a used inexpensive Nikkormat from a friend. The first professional camera I had ever touched. This purchase and a mad love affair would alter the course of my life. That summer I fell in love with both a musician and my Nikon.
I did not return to school but instead moved to the lower east side of Manhattan, where I made the decision at 19 years old to become a fashion photographer, having grown up with a love of clothing and style. Self taught and not knowing how to start, I took a series of self-portraits and mailed them to the head of the most prominent modeling agency at the time, Wilhemina Models. I received a phone call in response and was given a personal appointment with Wilhemina herself. From that moment on, I started testing models not only from Willy but from all the top agencies in NYC. I was one of a handful of photographers who were the first to be paid to test all the new girls at Elite, which had quickly become the hottest agency in the city. After several years in New York, working on my portfolio, I boarded a plane to Milano. I started working for fashion magazines within the first three months, the official beginning of my journey. But I knew from the first moment I held a camera in my hand that photography would be my life and fashion, my first and forever passion.
When you look back at the photographers who shaped you, who stands out as a muse or guiding influence, what about their work continues to resonate with you today?
Throughout my career shooting fashion editorial, most especially during the 15 years that I lived in Europe, I had many favorite photographers, among them, Peter Lindbergh, Paolo Roversi, and Ellen Von Unwerth. But it was discovering the ethereal images of Sarah Moon within the awe inspiring pages of Italian Vogue that cast the first and defining spell on me. From that moment on Italian Vogue became my bible. And if you Google Sarah Moon, you will find that her work is described as "dreamy, painterly and deeply romantic". Her style is noted for being "intensely personal, non-commercial in feel". So looking back, having never set out to purposely achieve any of those aesthetics, certainly never copying her images, my work can essentially be described with those very same adjectives. Most especially - deeply romantic. Throughout my younger years, I rebelled against my work being described in this way. But it is now something I have learned to embrace. It is my style. It is something that just happens when I shoot. It is not intentional or formulaic. It is just what I do, what I have always done. Perhaps, the result of specific.choices. What I am attracted to. The way I look at light and embrace the darkness. The mystery of grain and blur, a love affair with delicate beauty. Lucia Raffaelle, the head fashion editor at Italian Vogue under Franca Sozzani, was someone I worked with for many years. She once said to me "Donna, your work is very beautiful but it is also very subtle. Not everyone will understand the depth of your images but never ever let that discourage you"
Fashion plays such a strong role in your imagery. Which designers, past or present, have inspired your eye, your storytelling, or even the mood of your shoots?
As I mentioned earlier, I am an incorrigible romantic and I forever gravitate toward the tuile.As a young photographer, my own personal style was very reminiscent of acclaimed British designer, Margaret Howell, who I was blessed to work with over many of her collections. Her clothing has a boyish, masculine feel blended with softness. The designers I always loved photographing were always the most ethereal like Comme des Garcons, Ghost , Maison Margiela and Bluemarine. My favorite iconic designers are Christian Dior and Alexander McQueen. It is hard not to love Burberry and Prada and in this new modern world, I quite love Simone Rocha and Molly Goddard. All ruffles and girly girls. I don't wear clothing like that but I absolutely adore photographing it.
Across the span of your career, what has been the most memorable project you’ve worked on?
My most memorable project is the one closest to my heart, my book "Luke and Forrest, My Saviors, My Salvation". It started out as a project for Anthropologie, who asked me to participate in their creative online endeavor , "The Anthropologist". I was asked to both write and visually document, in collage format, a subject close to me. That was a no brainer. I had just lost my two labrador retrievers six months apart and I was devastated. They were brothers, Luke my chocolate and Forrest my black lab. They were the loves of my life, as well as my magnificent horse, Zwen. Anthropologie has always been a company that loved dogs and were emphatically onboard with my idea. So much so that when I turned in my work, they chose my presentation to kick off The Anthropologist. It was the first to go online and from there I got a publishing contract with Willowcreek Press to publish my book, a photographic retrospective of the lives of my boys, from puppyhood to the last days of their lives. During the final phases of my book, I brought a new puppy into my life, my Finn. My sweet sweet boy, my gorgeous lab golden became the last chapter in the book, titled "Along came Finn". It means the world to me now as I just lost my precious boy one year ago at the graceful age of 14 1/2 years. A devastating heartbreak.
You’re deeply connected to horses, both personally and artistically. How did that relationship begin, and what led you to become such a defining voice in equestrian photography?
I have loved horses from the age of four, when my dad first introduced me. Living in Europe and traveling worldwide, I never imagined I would ever have a horse of my own so I took every opportunity I could to be near them. When I lived in Paris I spent weekends at the Bois du Boulogne stables taking my film camera, creating a shoebox full of undeveloped film. And when I moved back to the states and was asked to have my first gallery show, I remembered my shoebox full of film. Those photographs would become the main part of a presentation I was asked to make to heads of Ralph Lauren years later and would result in my equine photographs decorating the walls of Ralph Lauren stores around the world for more than a decade now. Finding myself living in the Berkshires also resulted in my dream come true, my own horse, my beloved Dutch Warmblood Zwen. Having Zwen resulted in a new world of horses, horse owning friends and equine events. The exposure from Ralph Lauren resulted in an abundance of private sales and horse commissions that continues today. In 2025, I had an extraordinary exhibition at the Longine's show jumping event at the base of the Eiffel Tower. I was invited to have a show by the director of Longine's, Virginie Eiffel, a direct descendent of Gustave Eiffel. Spending that summer in Paris brought my world of equine photography full circle. As for my style, I can't really explain my equine images as anything more than an extension of how I photograph models, with an eye to beauty through exploration. A gentle whisper, a watching eye, a beautiful dance.
