By ARIELLA MONTI
After graduating, she left the law behind, and 13 years later published the city’s first photo book, “Visions of Long Beach.”
Tisi-Kramer was a graduate student in the School of Visual Arts at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) when she started putting together her book as a project for class.
“As I completed my project, I did some research and found there were no pictorial books on Long Beach — none at all, ever,” said Tisi-Kramer, an eight-year resident of the city.
She decided to self-publish the book that features images of Long Beach during each season, including the beach, boardwalk, carnivals, fireworks displays, parades and the West End nightlife. She called the process to create the book, which sells for $44.99, difficult and expensive.
“At times I thought this book was never even going to go to print,” she said. “The online self-publishing companies would charge more than double for a book of a comparable quality.”
Eventually, a friend was able to help her get the book published, and Tisi-Kramer held her first book signing during the annual fall festival last weekend, where she sold out her 100 advance copies. The book can also be found in the gift shop at the future Allegria Hotel at National Boulevard on the boardwalk and at the Ever’s Place gallery on W. Beech Street.
“I really like ‘Jetty to Jetty,’” she said of her favorite piece that hangs in Ever’s Place. “It is an image of the beach on a sunny day with all the beach-bathers from jetty to jetty.”
Tisi-Kramer said the City of Long Beach was instrumental in bringing her book to life. While the city did not provide funds for the project, it allowed her great access to shoot from certain spots.
“Just this past weekend [city employee] Mary Giambalvo granted me access to the rooftop of city hall so I could shoot an overview of the fall harvest festival,” she said. “Robert Piazza did the same for me last year and the image is in the book.”
When she is not capturing life in Long Beach, Tisi-Kramer is a commercial photographer who enjoys taking pictures of products, jewelry and nature. She has done work for Macy’s, Kenneth Cole and Coach. Spreading her experience and skill, she also teaches traditional and digital photography at FIT.
She and her husband, Tim, have a son, Cooper, 3, who will one day be the beneficiary of her old Canon A-1 so that he can learn traditional photography.
“I think it’s important to know the basics before enjoying the modern technology,” she said.
For more information and to purchase “Visions of Long Beach,” visit tisiphotography.com.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
