Please join us in welcoming my friend from college, photographer Catie Gray, from Long Beach, California on Thurs. June 5th 2025 6-9pm

Catie’s Grandpa gifted her a Polaroid camera when she was 8. Watching the photo develop before her eyes felt like magic and she went out to seek that feeling wherever she could. She took photography classes all through high school, enrolled in a class at a junior college just to have access to a darkroom again, and then eventually went on to study in Santa Barbara at a very prestigious (though now closed because of fraud and all kinds of perfunctory) fine art, Photography school. After more of the same in the photography world she became bored and transferred to the Film Production program – designing sets, writing scripts, and specializing in production sound work. After earning her BA she went on to work on feature films, shorts, and tv as a boom operator and sound mixer. After learning many other fields along the way – camera always in tow, Catie finally decided that settling down a bit and finding a way to give back to her community would give her the most satisfaction. She now lives in Long Beach, CA and works in homeless services ensuring every unhoused neighbor has safe and dignified shelter. Of course, the greatest accomplishment she boasts is that of her kind, intelligent, creative, beautiful daughter who studies art in Portland and will go on to Law school and eventually Congress – maybe the White House! Putting together a Photography series every couple of years, keeps Catie vulnerable and inspired.

In this collection, I explore the raw and evocative power of 35mm and 120 film to capture moments of intense desperation, beauty, and resistance. The imperfections and nuances of film mirror the complexities of resistance, highlighting the beauty in struggle and the strength found in adversity. Photography has always been a deeply personal journey for me. The process of shooting is both my meditation and biggest challenge, requiring patience and an open heart. This series is inspired by my own experiences and observations of resistance in various forms—whether it’s the quiet defiance of an individual or the collective strength of a community, or maybe in the lack thereof. These works are a call to explore and honor the spirit of resistance, seeing the beauty in all that is broken.