Robin Dreyer Photography

I am a photographer, editor, and the communications manager at Penland School of Crafts. A long time ago I went to music school at Indiana University (I didn't finish). My formal training in photography has taken the form of a series of photography workshops at Penland.

I have made photographs with 35mm cameras, large-format cameras, pinhole cameras, plastic cameras, point and shoot cameras, and digital cameras (large and small). Lately I've been having a little love affair with a medium format folding camera made in the mid-twentieth century (I'm holding it in the picture above). In addition to pictures made from gelatin silver emulsion, pixels, and microscopic dots of ink, I've made cyanotypes, salt prints, palladium prints, and daguerreotypes. I love Photoshop and my darkroom and use them both regularly.

Photographically, I'm fascinated by people at work, naturally occurring structures, and the relationship between people (or their stuff) and the landscape. I also can't resist strange and funny signs; someday I'll have a show where all of the pictures have words in them. I would love to use photography to change the world for the better, but I haven't figured out how to do that, so I'm just continuing to assume there's intrinsic value in making and sharing these images. My friend Jeff Goodman says that paying attention is a political act; I hope that if my photographs are about anything they are about paying attention.

My photographs have appeared in American Craft, American Style, Southern Accents, Country Journal, Pinhole Journal, Lark Books, Time-Life Books, and other publications including many Penland catalogs, annual reports, newsletters, etc. I've exhibited at Blue Spiral Gallery (Asheville, NC) and the Asheville Art Museum, which has one of my daguerreotypes in their permanent collection. I've written articles for American Craft, the Mountain Xpress (Asheville), and many Penland newsletters.

My job at Penland includes producing most of the photographs that represent the school. I also edit, supervise, and produce our publications, and I manage the school's website. I've worked at the school since 1995.

I've lived in rural Yancey County, North Carolina since 1977. I'm married and have two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, and one grandson, all of whom live fairly close by. My mother lives next door. In addition to making photographs, I like to write, walk, bike, bake, brew, cook, read, fix things up, watch movies, listen to music, and hang out.

You can contact me by email or 828-765-0433 or Penland School of Crafts, PO Box 37, Penland, NC 28714.