Exhibit: November 1-December 31, 2022
Reception: Friday, November 4, 4-6 p.m.
Location: First Floor Café Gallery

Wes Odell
Wes has been an amateur photographer for 75 years, and had his own darkroom at age 12. Photography has been in the family since the opening of the Odell Photography Studio in 1892, a portrait studio in Logan Utah.

After a stint with IBM up to Systems Engineering Mgr. and retirement as an “administrator and financial guy” in the infant software industry, Wes taught Marketing and Management at what is now Texas State University. Then, after moving to Salt Lake City, he did a US Foreign Aid assignment in the Republic of Armenia for the U.S. State Department; and was on the Environmental Advisory Committee to the 2002 Olympic Winter Games; and then a founder and member of the Executive Committee of the Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation, the Soldier Hollow Olympic venue for Biathlon and Cross Country Skiing.

He is a member of and was on the faculty at the Photographic Society of America, and is now a member of the Texas Photographic Society and several local Camera Clubs. He has served as the Curator of the Healing Arts Gallery at St. David’s Georgetown Hospital and the Del Webb/Pulte Sales Office in Sun City. He is a Photo Judge, Curator, Mentor, and Educator, and of course: a Photographer. While in Salt Lake City, he was President of the Wasatch Camera Club, Utah’s largest Photography club.

He particularly likes “vintage subjects” and tries to make photos look like they are from an earlier time. His favorite theme is “Photographing Today to Preserve Yesterday for Tomorrow.” His preference is “In-the-Camera” (reality, action/sports, and fine art photography) as opposed to “creative or altered reality.” He says monochrome is the closest thing to film photography which is how he learned the hobby. Recently he has been learning and creating “Fine Art” Photographs, and Wabi Sabi (Japanese) photo art. He avoids making “Pictures of Beautiful Subjects” and would rather make “Beautiful Pictures of Subjects.” The difference is the former are images that anyone could take because they are static like “postcards.” The latter, on the other hand, are “one of a kind” photos because they are not repeatable (ie Action Shots) or they include a Story.

Dee Darius Sams
Dee has been a photographer for most of her adult life, starting in 1982 when she created a black/white darkroom in her home. In March 2017 she joined the Sun City Photo Club and followed that in May 2017, when she joined the Photographic Society of America which is a world-wide organization providing a wide variety of resources for photographers, from the novice to the professional. In January 2020 she was named the Photography Club’s Representative to PSA and later that year Dee was named by PSA as the “Large Club Representative of the Year for 2020.” In April of 2022 she was honored to be selected as a PSA Judge with the responsibility to judge domestic as well as international photo competitions. She is a self-taught photographer who takes advantage of every opportunity to improve and enhance her skills.

In her photography she seeks to be creative by producing beautiful and unique photographs which nourishes her soul and stimulates her mind. She looks beyond an obvious subject to find an angle that captures the imagination and strives to create art through her photographs. Her active adventurous spirit is nurtured by experiencing the natural world around her. Her goal is to share her work with those who see beauty in unusual subjects and places.

Ellen Greeney
Ellen is a travel photographer. She feels truly blessed to have traveled all over the world experiencing different cultures, seeing fascinating people and places, ancient treasures and amazingly beautiful scenery. She speaks several languages, sort of, if you count learning to say hello, good bye, thank you, excuse me, no, WC and how much for each new location.

Her footprints have appeared on all seven continents while exploring scores of countries, nations, kingdoms, republics, principalities, provinces, pueblos, islands, a city-state and even a grand Duchy: from a walkabout in the tiny Most Serene Republic of San Marino to a patriotic parade in the failed German Democratic Republic and a river cruise in the largest country, ‘mother’ Russia.

Many unique places remain in her future travel and photo plans: Scandinavian capitals, cherry blossoms in Japan, animal migrations and safaris in Kenya, the Maasai people, Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and the wonders of UAE and Oman.

There are no fancy professional cameras or lens in her bag. Ellen’s photos were taken with an iPad mini, iPhone 7 and most recently an iPhone 11.