“Ashley Denham, a general studies major at Amarillo College, has a penchant for photography that is beginning to blossom.
The AC sophomore’s vibrant close-up of a marigold captured the Best Print of Show award in the Amateur Photo Division of the photography competition on Sept. 14 at the Tri-State Fair & Rodeo.
“I was so filled with joy I couldn’t even speak,” said Denham, whose colorful entry also snagged first-place honors in the Adult Color classification. “I’ve never won anything before. It was amazing.”
Denham, 20, is a graduate of Tascosa High School who developed an interest in photography at an early age. Although she is leaning toward a STEM-related career and presently serves as a supervisor at AC’s Math Testing Center, photography classes have comprised all her electives at AC.
In fact, Denham is so intrigued by the avocation that last year she became a rare non-photography major to ascend to the presidency of the AC Photography Club, in which she is serving as vice president this year.
She captured the image for her winning TriState Fair entry while vacationing last July in Colorado, and she personally printed it the old-fashioned way – in the darkroom at AC.
“I love capturing moments,” she says, “one glimpse that can bring you warmth or sadness or joy. I like all the hands-on aspects of creating a picture and printing it in a darkroom. A physical picture is personal, and that’s why I like it so much.”
-Amarillo College
Denham
Photo by AC