From photographing U2's "Zoo TV" tour high above the stage on a cherry picker to spending two days in the Scottish Manor house of CBS's Charles Osgood shooting his renovated bathroom and bedroom, photographer Teresa Izzo has covered most beats on the block. With a 10-year foundation in commercial photography, Teresa's work has been published in numerous magazines, including Architectural Digest and Life. Here in Boston, however, she is perhaps most well known for her dedication to the local music scene. An award-winning writer and photographer, Teresa blends her creative visual and artistic talents with her love for music, resulting in photographs and stories that capture the very essence of the performer.

Her innate passion for the arts began when she was a child growing up in Bethel, Connecticut. Music appreciation surrounded Teresa, courtesy of her persistent parents. But it wasn't until she graduated from college did she take camera to hand and pursue a career in photography. From Lake Tahoe to San Diego to Connecticut to Boston, Teresa gained a great deal of expertise in the field of commercial photography, but it wasn't until she returned to New England from California that she began to instinctively weave the fabric of both her passion for the arts and her college studies (she majored in Anthropology and Sociology and minored in Music) and actively began building her portfolio with photographs of musicians. Although she shot many live performances of local bands in Connecticut, Teresa had the opportunity to photograph a variety music photo stock company. While taking assignments for such renowned artists as Annie Lenox and The Pretenders, she created her own photographic opportunities by consistently keeping her finger on the pulse of emerging acts.

In time, Teresa established herself in the Boston area as one of the top photographers in the genre of music. Between national acts and local artists who hired her for promos, live shoots, and CD covers, her portfolio consists of photos of David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, U2, Adrian Belew, Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Aerosmith, Morphine, Extreme, Patti Smith, Jim Carroll, The Ramones, Face To Face, 'Til Tuesday, Peter Wolf, Heavy Metal Horns, Beat Surrender, and much more.

Extending her talents into journalism enabled Teresa to combine music, photography, and writing when she began working for New England Performer Magazine (now known as Northeast Performer Magazine) in 1991 - the year of its inception. Teresa began what became a five-year tenure at the magazine with a cover story on Igor Butman, the Soviet Union's leading saxophonist in the late '80s. The success of that interview led to her eventual position as Staff Writer and Photographer, then Deputy Editor and Photo Editor at Performer Magazine. Her unique approach to writing - one she calls as "an anthropologist studying a sub-culture" led to many cover stories and the aforementioned national Music Journalism Awards - one for her interview with Peter Wolf and the following nominations for her feature story and photojournalism of "Morphine in Paris" and for her interview with the Boston band Cliffs Of Dooneen.

Sure to be noted is that this dedication is not a one way street. In 1994, when all of Teresa's camera equipment was stolen after a home invasion, the Boston music community came to her aid. Modern Farmer, Jennifer Trynin, and Brian Maes and the Memory (members of Peter Wolf's Houseparty Five) played a benefit at Bill's Bar in Boston and raised enough cash to put Teresa back in business.

At the present time, Teresa continues to photograph a variety of local and national musical artists. In addition, she will have an article published in a forthcoming issue of Bass Player Magazine on Phil Bynoe (bass player for Steve Vai).

As art is a reflection of the soul, viewing Teresa's photographs illuminates depth, ardor, zeal, poetry, and emotions in both herself and her "subjects." Transferring the essence of the art of music onto a photographic page takes more than skill - it takes talent. . . and it takes heart.