Jennifer Summer is a photographer, writer, and artist living in greater Cincinnati, Ohio. Her writing passion began the day she could hold a pencil, but her photography began with the birth of her first and only child, her son, Dakota, now a teenager. He has always been her most beloved muse and favorite subject.
Jennifer’s work has been published in multiple periodicals and books, including the Capture Cincinnati photo competition in which she took first place in the Portrait and also Pet category, and received an Editor’s Choice Award. A first place winner in the photography competition sponsored by ViewBug and named by them as one of the top photographers of 2018; her work has been exhibited in multiple venues across the city. Jennifer has presented her work and artistic process at local colleges, and published Our Salt & Sand, a collection of original prose with photographic accompaniments. In 2008 she founded the organization The Emancipation of Artemis | Artists United to End Violence Against Women & Girls and held an art exhibition which raised over $2,000 for RAINN.
Jennifer has provided photography services to noteworthy actors and comedians such as John Fugelsang (Stephanie Miller’s Sexy Liberal Comedy Tour headliner, and host of Sirius XM show Tell Me Everything), and Zach Galligan (Gremlins), and Jack Sonni, (former guitarist for Dire Straits). Jennifer’s portfolio consists mainly of conceptual portraits, as well as nature and water, all of which are the driving passion behind her work.
Jennifer has a deep and abiding love for the sea, mermaids, elephants, reading, creating, and surviving. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends and finding new and interesting ways to see the world.
Jennifer is currently in the battle of her life against stage four metastatic breast cancer. She has undergone brain surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Her condition is stable as of now due to aggressive oral chemotherapy medications and the love, support, and positive energy she receives from her tribe of friends and her wonderful family. If you wish to contribute to the fight against this devastating illness, please consider donating to the American Cancer Society, Camp Kesem (a free camp for children who have a parent with cancer), Cancer Family Care, and the Karen Wellington Foundation for LIVING with breast cancer. All of these organizations are invaluable resources and do tremendous good for patients and affected family members. Jennifer’s teenaged son was a guest speaker at a Camp Kesem banquet in 2018.
(left image; watercolor portrait of Jennifer Summer by Erin Darcy of Erin Darcy Design. right image; self-portrait by Jennifer Summer).
data-animation-override>
“I’ve told you: no one becomes an artist unless they have to.”