working for a hospitality group in Austin. Santangelo knows how to offer up what customers want when it comes to traditional cafe spaces. But when it came to Wander, their initial inspiration wasn’ t hospitality; it was photography.
An award-winning graduate of the International Center of Photography’ s photojournalism program in New York City, Santangelo’ s work has been seen in publications such as The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, and The Washington Post. They were awarded The New York Times Foundation Scholarship and apprenticed under their mentor, American documentary photographer and filmmaker Eugene Richards.
Santangelo has a passion for the intimacy of portraiture and the art of shooting on film and developing it in a darkroom.“ I don’ t know until I get into the darkroom what I’ m really going to see,” Santangelo says.“ I like not knowing.”
For five years, Santangelo made their living as a documentary photographer and photojournalist, working on projects including“ Proud to Serve: LGBT Veterans,” during the period of the now-repealed " don ' t ask, don ' t tell " policy. That award-winning series went on to be exhibited around the world and led to a self-published book.( Their work can be viewed at jaysantangelo. com.)
“ I was doing well, but I had imposter syndrome,” says Santangelo.“ What nobody else knew was, when I would look at my camera, I would cry like I was having a mental health breakdown. In hindsight, the thing that drove me— the thing that sparked me— was also now the thing that was making me completely unhappy. So I quit photography.”
Having kept a foot in the hospitality world in-between photography assignments, Santangelo was able to turn to a full-time life in the restaurant world. Working their way up from entry-level manager to director of operations in four years, Santangelo’ s journey suddenly took another turn when the pandemic hit.
“ The world crashes for everybody. Everything crashes for me. I ' m completely miserable. And, just like,‘ What the hell is going on?’” Santangelo says. After parting ways with the hospitality group in December 2020, their mother got sick due to
complications from lung cancer and died two weeks later. It was around this time that Santangelo decided to stop drinking,“ I just quit. Cold turkey. For the first time in my life, I wanted to feel it all. I wanted to feel the pain.”
Newly sober and still reeling from the death of their mother, Santangelo was able to land a job with Preacher, an Austin-based ad agency. Then they were hit with more bad news just five months later: Santangelo’ s brother Joe died from a fentanyl overdose. For the next year, they were entrenched in grief while still working for Preacher.
Looking for a fresh start closer to their hometown of Boston and their dad, who still lives there, Santangelo, their wife, and daughter moved to the Berkshires in 2022. An avid runner, Santangelo has run the Boston Marathon twice in honor of their brother. They now train on the trails right outside their door in Lenox, where they still talk to their mother and brother in the woods of October Mountain.
“ And I write to them almost every day in my journals,” Santangelo says.“ I write‘ Dear Mom and Joe ….’ The initial seeds of
Great Barrington Public Theater Presents
HOW TO NOT SAVE THE WORLD WITH MR. BEZOS By Maggie Kearnan
Directed by Clay Hopper
MADAME MOZART, THE LACRIMOSA by Anne Undeland
Directed by Judy Braha
THE BEST MEDICINE By Robin Gerber
Directed by Matthew Penn
Season runs June 5-August 17, 2025 www. greatbarringtonpublictheater. org Box Office: 413-372-1980 boxoffice @ greatbarringtonpublictheater. org
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May Holiday / June 2023 2025 BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE // // 103