Laura Wilson
Laura was born and raised in a suburb outside Boston in a family that valued art. In college she majored in painting. Fast forwarding to her marriage, she and her husband produced three sons. An interesting aside is that these sons became well-known actors. With her having three active sons Laura quickly learned that painting took up much time, so she picked up a camera as an artistic outlet. Because of her background in painting, photography was quite natural, because she was already familiar with the ideas of elements of design, composition, and color.
In 1965 she and her husband moved to Dallas, where her husband took a position as the head of KERA. Year later she met world-renown photographer Richard Avedon who was known for his fashion photography. By then he had taken on the assignment to photograph people in the American West, based on a commission from the Amon Carter Museum. On a lark Laura applied for a job to work as his assistant. Their first work together involved going to Sweetwater Texas to photograph a rattlesnake roundup. During her work (1979-1986) with Avedon, they photographed in seventeen states in the American West. Her job as his assistant was to find interesting subjects outside the mainstream for him to photograph with his 8x10 camera. She found these people in state fairs, rodeos, carnivals, coal mines, oil fields, slaughterhouses, and prisons. While working for Avedon, her own photography was developing as well.
The major influences on her photography were Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Robert Frank, and most especially Richard Avedon. The common denominator with all these artists was their focus on photographing people, although the types of people, and the setting were quite varied. These photographers she most admired could be described by a variety of words, such as street photographers, photojournalists, documentary photographers and portraitists. Those words also described much of Laura Wilson’s photography.
Laura Wilson is the author of eight books in photography. Her best-known book is Avedon at Work: In the American West. Her last two published books were within the last four years. One was a collection of portraits of famous authors, and the other was based on her photography in Mexico.
To fully appreciate a program by Laura Wilson, the suggestion is made to go to Laura Wilson’s webpage, which is the following: laurawilsonphotography.com. Seeing her photography online is one of the best ways of becoming aware of her work.
Field Trips 2026
January 17 - Cedar Hill and National Cemetery
February 7 - Scavenger Hunt, Texas Live! Arlington with FWCC
March 13 - Dallas Arboretum
March 21 - Celtic Festival - Sherman
April 2-6 - Celebration of Spring in the Rio Grande Valley
May 2 - Cinco De Mayo Parade and Festival, Grand Prairie
June 20 -Marshall Arts Test and Demonstration
Field Trips 2025
January 18 - Discovery Garden
February 15 - Scavenger Hunt - Homestead Craft Village, Waco, Texas
March - North Texas Irish Festival
April 10 - 14 - High Island - Spring Bird Migration
May
3 - Irwin's Garden
20 - Avedon at the Amon Carter
25 - Fiesta Charra
June 7 - Clark Garden
July 18 - Rough Riders Baseball
August 16 - the Haas Moto Museum in Addison
September - AT&T Discovery District Photo Walk
October 25 - Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering, Fort Worth
November 7- 9 -Caddo Lake
December - Hagerman Geese and Whisky
Field Trips 2024
January 27 - Dallas Rugby Club/Lake Highlands Park
February 17- Annual Scavenger Hunt - Charming McKinney, TX
March 23 -Celtic Festival - Sherman
April 11-14 - Landscapes/White Sands NP, Alamogordo, N.M.
April Eclipse INFO
May 18 - Texas Rose Horse Park
June 15th. Strokers Motorcycle Shop and Ice House
July 16th. Tuesday evening Bicycle races in Richardson
August 17th. Roller Derby/Ice Hockey
September 28th. Clymer Meadows
October 28th- whenever. Fall Foliage Trip to Great Smokey Mountains
November 16 - Dallas Zoo
December 14 - John Bunker Sands Wetlands
Field Trips 2023
January 7, 2023 - Hagerman Wildlife Refuge - January 7, 8:00AM
February 4, 2023 - Scavenger Hunt - Downtown Dallas
March 4, 2023 - North Texas Irish Festival
April 13-16, 2023 Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge
May 20, 2023 PM - Clymer Meadows
June 3, 2023 - Rough Riders Baseball
October 28, 2023 - Red Steagall Cowboy Gathering
November 3-5, 2023 Arkansas, Eureka Springs
December 2 -Fort Worth Japanese Gardens and Zoo
Field Trips 2022
January 2022 - Dallas Zoo
February 2022 - West End Scavenger Hunt
March 2022 - Fort Worth Butterfly Garden
April 2, 2022 - Tyler Azalea Trail and Caldwell Zoo
May 21, 2022 - Polo
June 25, 2022 - Lone Star Park Horse Racing
July 9, 2022 - Winspear Opera House Tour interior and arts district photoshoot
August 20, 2022 - Roller Derby Game
September 17, 2022 - Dallas Arboretum
30 September to 7 October 2022: Fall Color in Ouray, Colorado, Visit Ouray Sample Itinerary
September 30-October 23, 2022 - DIY, State Fair of Texas
November 11-13, 2022 - Wings Over Dallas WWII Airshow
December 11, 2022 - Dallas Marathon
December 2022 - Holiday at the Arboretum
Field Trips 2023
January 7,2023 Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge
February 2023 (11,18, or 25) Scavenger Hunt
March 4,2023 North Texas Irish Festival
July - August 2023 Kenya
Field Trips 2021 - 2022
January – Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge
February – Dallas Zoo
March – Dallas Heritage Village
April – Ennis Bluebonnets
May - Clark Gardens
June – Matilda the Musical
July – Fireworks
September - Deep Ellum – Saturday - Sept 25th - Steve Reeves
October - Pumpkins around Dallas
November - Hot Springs National Park – Nov. 5 – 7
December - Fort Worth Japanese Gardens
To see the club's Field Trip History click HERE