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The Art of Observation Amateur photographers in the W&L community share a few of their favorite images.

From wildlife to flora to architecture to landscapes, a few of W&L’s amateur photographers have captured a wide variety of spectacular images. Here are few of their favorite shots.

Mary Main, Executive Director, Human Resources
“My interest in photography centers around animals, nature and things found walking. I currently have a photo exhibit hanging in Sweet Treats that shows my photos from an African safari, which focuses on animals in the Serengeti. I do occasional landscape work when driving around and have recently taken an interest in the barns of Rockbridge County.”

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Mitch Keller, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
“Travel, baking, and photography are my three principal hobbies, and the other two played a major role in my photographic work this year. My images feature sights from travels to the Scottish Highlands, Rome, Hong Kong and Japan. A holiday trip home to North Dakota also makes a couple of appearances, including truffles I made for my friends’ Christmas party and a Christmas Day blizzard at my brother and sister-in-law’s ranch.”

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Nancy Margand, Professor Emeritus of Psychology
“With the new found freedom that retirement has allowed me, I’ve had a chance to explore the county, and to travel to other beautiful locations. It’s also given me a chance to go back to a very early interest in macro floral photography. The Rockbridge camera club has been a wonderful source of education and encouragement!”

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Lad Sessions, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
After I retired from W&L in 2011, after 40 years of service, I had much more time for photography, turning my attention from the conceptual web of philosophy to the perceptual web of images. It is a great delight to see through my lens the great beauty of the world around us, at home and abroad, where patterns, colors, shapes, textures, shades and infinite variety abound — if we but take the time to look attentively. I find that photography both draws upon my powers of seeing and also sharpens those powers: A good way to learn to be receptive to the visual form and shape of the world is to (try to) image it. Imaging is imagining. It’s a welcome bonus when the images I “capture” also delight others. These 2017 images were mostly taken in New Zealand, a scenic wonderland, but also in Texas (the red rose), California (yellow flower) and our home in Lexington.

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