FOCUS OREGON - V1 Issue 3

In Memory of
Wendy Seagren
By Mark Fitzgerald, M.Photog., Cr., FP-OR
few weeks ago OPPA lost one of its
A founding members and a past board
member, Wendy Seagren. For those who
knew Wendy her passing was a truly sad
event because she was a unique individual
who brought so much joy to those around
her. Wendy was a photographer who worked
tirelessly to improve her craft and creative
vision so she could explore new ways of
photographing places that were important
to her.
I met Wendy when she was a student in
one of my classes at Newspace Center for
Photography. Her thirst for knowledge made
her stand out amongst her
fellow students. Over time
Wendy attended several of
my classes and soaked up
as much information as she
could. Eventually she asked
me to begin doing private
training with her so she could go deeper into
the specific things she wanted to learn.
Over the course of the next few years, Wendy
and I met many times to discuss photography
and how she could use tools like Lightroom
and Photoshop to refine her creative vision.
One of the things that impressed me most
about Wendy was how she worked hard
to learn and expand on what she learned.
It was quite common for her to call or text
first thing in the morning to ask a question
about something she didn’t understand that
she had worked on late into the night. Due
to this kind of dedication she soon began to
“Imagery is my life,
and life is something
beautiful.”
master the tools and techniques and make
them her own.
I invited Wendy to join Portland Metropolitan
Photographers Association and encouraged
her to enter our competitions. (PMPA was one
of the precursor organizations that eventually
became OPPA.) Wendy was quickly bitten by
the competition-bug and entered nearly all
of our competitions, as well as PPA district
and international competitions. She worked
hard on creating competition images and
eventually earned the OPPA Fellow of
Photography Degree and the PPA Master of
Photography Degree. Wendy asked me to
be her sponsor at the 2016
PPA awards ceremony in
Atlanta when she received
her Master’s degree. Going
up on the stage with her and
placing the ribbon around
her neck was one of my
proudest moments as a teacher and mentor.
I realized then how much I had enjoyed
watching her journey over the years.
– Wendy Seagren
Wendy’s passion was landscape photography.
And the place she loved most was Yosemite
National Park. As a child she visited the place
nearly every year. As an adult she continued
to visit as often as she could. She began
capturing the spirit of the place with her
camera and created many beautiful images.
Seven of her IPC merits were from images
made in Yosemite. Her Yosemite photos also
received recognition in other competitions,
such as the United States Landscape
her health was failing and working on her
photography was more demanding. But she
never gave up.
It was an honor to know Wendy, to work with
her, and to become her friend. She was always
happy and upbeat no matter what was going
on in her life. I will miss sitting with her and
discussing photography and her work. (I will
also miss her sweet dog, Harley, who would
often sleep in my lap while we talked.) The
last image she and I talked about is one that
went loan this year and is on the cover of this
A memorial service celebrating Wendy’s life is
being held Saturday October 6 at 10:45am at
Camas Meadows Golf Club. OPPA members
are welcome to attend.
If you would like to see more of Wendy’s
photography, you can visit her website at
thruthelensephotography.com.
Photographer of the Year, where she was a
finalist. Whenever I think of Yosemite, I will
always remember Wendy and her love for
the place.
Wendy continued to travel and photograph
the places that were special to her. She
also continued to enter OPPA and PPA
competitions. In 2017 she received a silver
medal at IPC and this year she received
a gold medal. In my view this was one of
her biggest accomplishments because
magazine. I remember we were talking about
potential titles and she came up with “Into
the Light”. The title really struck me because
I knew there was a possibility Wendy would
soon be making her own journey into the
light. Of the countless images I have seen
over the years, this is one I will never forget.
Though she’s gone, we can still enjoy the
remarkable images Wendy left behind and
remember the person she was who brought
joy to so many.
20 • FOCUS OREGON
FALL 2018 FOCUS OREGON • 21