About Us and The Artist

Image Merchants began with an unlikely Christmas gift. In 1989, Joanna Biondolillo was given a Minolta 370X for Christmas by a friend who had seen her art work. Until then Joanna had dabbled in textiles, weaving and some drawing. “I didn’t know it at the time, but photography would change the course of my life.” Back then film was all there was and most professional photographs were still developed in the dark room. Photographers were taught that their job was to document the reality in front of them.

Joanna began her career as a portrait photographer in Austin, Texas but now works almost exclusively in landscape and travel photography. Although digital technology has taken over the imaging industry, Joanna does not alter her images. As a film trained photographer, she still uses a hand-held light meter. “You can’t change the reality of what is. I photograph the reality in front of me and present it as I photographed it. Old fashioned or not, I still believe in the integrity of my photographs.”

Image Merchants combines Joanna’s images of the south and the southwest with fun and exquisite products that create the ultimate in imaged gifts. We provide beautiful gift baskets, corporate and executive gifts, hotel room gifts, holiday gifts and more. At Image Merchants, our goal is to make gift giving an event and shopping a pleasure for our customers!

Still Life photography is an art unto itself. To look at something that has no movement, no intention and to photograph it well means to see the world with a different perspective. Heaps of fishing ropes, stacks of flower pots, boats clustered together become so much more. They become art.

Good hiking boots are an essential tool of the landscape photographer. We hope you enjoy our recent additions to this section including, The Enchantment of Enchanted Rock Collection.

“Light makes photography. Embrace it. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you’re worth and you will know the key to photography.” George Eastman