Today we’d like to introduce you to Desiree Steele.
Hi Desiree, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I think storytelling has always been part of who I am. As a kid, I would sit on my grandparents’ living room floor flipping through National Geographic magazines, fascinated by the photographs and the people and places they introduced me to. I didn’t know it then, but that curiosity would eventually become a huge part of my life. To this day, I still pick up a National Geographic magazine in the checkout line, still curious about the photographs, the people, the places, and the stories behind them.
I married Bart in 1994, raised three kids, and spent 18 years homeschooling them. As my kids grew up, I started figuring out who I was outside of being a wife and mom, and photography became a big part of that. Over the years, my work has been shown in galleries across Texas, I was a featured artist at the Texas Photography Festival, photographed behind the scenes for the award-winning documentary Where the Horses Heal the Soul, and participated in the Austin Art Tour. In 2026, I was hired for my first overseas documentary photography shoot for a yoga retreat in Portugal and Spain, where I also walked 100 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago.
In January 2026, I published my memoir, Backroads & Backporches: The Road Back to Me, and now my love of cooking and bringing people together has grown into Momma Steele’s Elevated Kitchen and a recurring recipe feature for The Newsboy Local and cookbooks coming in 2027.
For a long time, I thought photography, writing and food were separate things. Now I understand the connection. I am a storyteller. I tell stories through photography, through writing, and now through food. At the heart of all of it is the same thing: noticing the things we sometimes miss and sharing the stories that connect us.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There have been some really hard seasons in my life—loss, financial struggles, health challenges, starting over, and plenty of times when I had absolutely no idea what I was doing or where I was going next. For a long time, I thought I needed to have everything figured out or that my life was supposed to look a certain way.
One of the biggest things I’ve had to learn is how to trust myself. To stop waiting until I feel completely ready, stop comparing where I am to where somebody else is, and be willing to change direction when something no longer feels right. Starting a creative career later in life, putting my photography out into the world, writing a memoir and continuing to try completely new things has required me to get comfortable with not knowing exactly where any of it is going.
I think I’ve finally realized that my life doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s but my own, and that road is forever changing. I’m not just along for the ride anymore. I’m choosing the roads, taking the detours, having the adventures and trusting myself enough to see where they lead. And honestly, one of my favorite questions these days is simply, hmm…what’s next?
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
At the heart of everything I do, I am a storyteller. I tell stories through photography, through writing, and now through food. They may look like three completely different things, but to me they are all connected by the same thing: noticing.
My photography is probably what I am best known for. I am drawn to the things people sometimes pass right by—the old building on the side of the road, an interesting tree, the way light falls across something, a landscape that makes you stop, or a small moment between people. I don’t necessarily photograph what something looks like. I photograph what it feels like to me.
That same way of seeing things carries into my writing. My memoir, Backroads & Backporches: The Road Back to Me, is about getting lost, finding my way back to myself and learning to notice the beautiful things along the way. And now Momma Steele’s Elevated Kitchen lets me tell stories through food, because I have always believed some of our best stories happen when people gather around a table.
What I am most proud of isn’t one photograph, exhibition, book or accomplishment. It is that I finally stopped trying to fit myself into one box. I can be a photographer, writer, cook, traveler and whatever I decide to try next. What sets my work apart is that all of it comes from the way I see the world. I notice the little things, and then I find a way to tell their story.
What matters most to you? Why?
Being a good human. It really is that simple for me. I care about being kind, being curious instead of judgmental, including people, showing up for the people I love, and leaving people and places a little better than I found them.
I don’t think being a good human means getting everything right. I certainly don’t. It means being willing to listen, learn, apologize, change your mind and keep growing. I want to notice people. I want people to feel seen and welcome around me, whether that is through my photography, something I write, a meal around my table or just an ordinary conversation.
At the end of my life, I don’t think I will care very much about how much I accomplished. I will care about how I loved people, how I treated them, the experiences I had, and whether I actually paid attention while I was here. That’s what matters to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.desireesteele.com
- Instagram: @desireesteele.art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1Bigo5Yzdb/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo7OM9B0gvbzt4mmBi5dm_aQs8AIeiOpa
- Other: www.desireesteele.photography
