My Photography Anniversary

Ten years ago this week I began my first photography class, Introduction to Digital Photography at the Santa Fe Workshops. The week-long workshop was a gift from my husband Jeff. Seeing how much I enjoyed taking photos with my iPhone, he had given me a "real" camera the previous Christmas. Intimidated, I left my new Canon Rebel in its box in the closet. But Jeff was sure once I learned the basics, I would love taking photos with my digital camera.

He was right. After a week with our excellent and kind instructor, Jennifer Spelman, I was hooked. My images from that first week don't embarrass me and I am still learning, but it was a solid start. I took the camera with me to family events that spring and to France in June. Struggling as I shot everything from graduations to the streets of Bordeaux and Paris, I slowly improved. Lucky for me Jeff had been a serious photographer years before and was able to advise the amateur me.

It wasn't long before he bought himself a camera and we signed up for a workshop in San Miguel Allende during Day of the Dead festivities. Now both of us were looking for other opportunities to improve our skills and share new photography adventures. We pursued additional workshops exploring the Santa Fe Watershed, the villages of Northern New Mexico and our own neighborhood.

By the fall of 2019, I recognized that I needed more focused instruction and signed up for Photography 111 at Santa Fe Community College. While once again I was over my skill set, our instructor Marcel Perez, built my confidence with his patience, high standards and detailed workflows. The following semester Jeff joined me at SFCC, and we continued our classes online when the pandemic closed the campus. When the Santa Fe Workshops began online offerings, we discovered new courses and new challenges, learning opportunities that kept us engaged until we were back out in the world and on campus in 2022. And we are still there.

Over these years I have tested myself (and my camera) creating several books and a zine and sent images off to various competitions. No one is more surprised and delighted than I am when my work wins recognition. Now with my most recent book, If These Clothes Could Talk published and a photo of mine included in a show that will open at the Praxis Gallery in Minneapolis on April 19, I am encouraged by the response to my work and evermore grateful for Jeff's belief in me (and the gift of my camera).

Among the list of wonderful photography instructors who have taught, challenged, and encouraged me in the last ten years, I would like to thank: Jennifer Spelman, David Middleton and Barbara Berry, Tony O'Brien, Aline Smithson, Marcel Perez, Reid Callanan, Kimberly Witham, Tony Bonnano, Christine Alexander, Andrew Southam, Will Wilson, and Sage Paisner. Thanks, too, to the many fellow photographers in those classes for their thoughtful critique.

“Adrift”—first place winner Santa Fe Reporter Photo Contest 2024, Category Strange

“Lupita on Alameda”—first place winner Santa Fe Reporter Photo Contest 2024, Category Place

“La Dona Catrina”—included in the Praxis Gallery Show “Staged & Constructed” April 2025

“Opera Shadows”—featured in the Santa Fe Opera Instameet Show 2019