Made for You By: Marlene Weinstein, Photographer

Someone once told her that digital photography with an SLR camera was too complicated. So of course, Marlene Weinstein set out to learn how to do it.

Fast forward 10 years later, and she's a professional photographer.

Weinstein is a regular participant at Gallery North's annual Outdoor Art Show and the Setauket Artists' Exhibition at the Neighborhood House, and has also exhibited at the Gurwin Center in Commack. She also taught a photography workshop at Avalon Park. She estimates that 75 percent of what she shoots is local to the Three Village area.

"While other people I knew were going to Morocco, I was going to West Meadow Beach," she said. "But I think the photos I take mean something to me and to people around here."

She has taken lots of photos of what she calls a "vanishing landscape" – scenes in town that have changed dramatically over the years. For instance, she had actually taken some photos of the cottages at West Meadow Beach before they were torn down.

"As things get built up or change, a lot of the things I have images of are just not there anymore, which is kind of sad, but I’m glad I have the photographs of them," Weinstein said. "That’s one way to remember what Long Island used to look like."

Her favorite subjects, she said, are the simple ones.

"A single tree, or a single boat," she said. "I really like the idea of simplicity and photographs that are uncluttered with a lot of things around them."

Weinstein started offering the glass pendants about a year ago.

"Sometimes I do shows where it seems that especially with the economy, people are looking for small things and don’t always have room on their walls to buy framed pieces," she said. "They’re actual miniature photographs. ... It’s wearable art."

It's something Weinstein said she envisions doing full-time someday; but for now, she is a user interface designer for telephone systems. A 30-year resident of Three Village, said she has always felt artistically inclined.

"I started out thinking that I was going to become a professional artist when I was younger," she said. "I was always drawing and painting. It kind of made sense that I stuck with something creative."

View Marlene Weinstein's online portfolio here.

About this series: Three Village is home to a vibrant arts scene, one we'll explore by featuring local artists on Three Village Patch.