Rhonda Spidell

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Rhonda Spidell has been drawn to photography ever since her dad brought back a “spy camera” from Japan in the 1960s. Rhonda studied photography at UNM as a part of an Art Ed degree and went on to teach science for 40 years. Rhonda describes her photography, “I was always photographing: students, geology, fieldtrips and landscapes etc. I had a science education and photography consulting business which took me all over the world.’ One of my favorite gigs was “Earth Systems on Location” where I traveled to New Zealand and Australia to photograph earth systems such as the stromatolites in Shark’s Bay.

After retirement, Rhonda decided to pour her heart and soul into photography. She spent 3 years showing her work at Albuquerque Photographers Gallery, but a 100- day trip to photograph Alaska was the siren’s call and she was on the road again. Just during 2018 she travelled to New Zealand, Alaska, Baja and Tahiti as well as numerous photography trips in the Southwest.  She and her husband travel in their 4 by 4 SportsMobile as well as sailing on her brother’s 60 ft boat in Tahiti. Rhonda states, “Traveling to new places or revisiting familiar places always gives me a sense of adventure as I construct a story or follow a trail of evidence with my camera. I study the lighting, composition, and pay attention to what connects me to the image.”

The subject of Rhonda’s talk will be “Using Storytelling to Guide Your Photography.” She will take you on the “Journey of the Stones” to find the quarry in Wales where many of the Stonehenge monoliths originated. You will also go back to the “Dust Bowl Days” to experience the Mother Road from her Granddad’s gas station on a lonely stretch of Route 66 and take you on the 100-day trip to Alaska.

“In photography there is a reality so subtle that it becomes more real than reality.”
Alfred Stieglitz

You can find Rhonda's website at rhondaspidell.com