bio:
 b. 1981, jersey shore. 
 Melissa Cacioppo grew up in suburban New Jersey.  
 Cacioppo started taking pictures in high school, but the school 
 did not offer any classes in photography. So, at 16 she took a job 
 at a local fast food establishment to save enough money to build 
 a makeshift darkroom in her parent's basement. A few months later
 all of her spare time was spent there, teaching herself how to 
 develop and print photographs.  She went on to study photography 
 at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, and graduated in 2004. 
 Her work is a part of many personal collections throughout the New 
 York area and beyond.