My name is Frank Lavelle, and I have been a photographer most of my adult life and a photo educator for the past 28 years. I have taught all levels of black & white and color photography as well as alternative printing and other specialty courses. I have taught at colleges and art schools (Corcoran School of Art; University of Delaware, where I earned an MFA in Photography; Trinity College; and Northern Virginia Community College - many of them simultaneously!), nationally recognized photo workshops (Santa Fe Workshops, 2007;The Maine Photographic Workshops, 1996 to the present; and Palm Beach Photo Workshops from 1988-2003), high schools, and adult ed programs. For 25 years I was Director of Photographic Education for the Smithsonian Associates in Washington, DC, overseeing a program that offers approximately 85 courses per year, programmed on a quarterly basis. I produced the curriculum, interviewed instructors, and managed a core group of ten faculty members. In 2004 I began leading photographic tours to Ireland, Venice, and Morocco for Strabo Tours.

All the while, I have continued to pursue my own work by photographing here and abroad, participating in professional development workshops whenever possible (most recently Photographic Book Publishing in Santa Fe), and exhibiting regularly at the Kathleen Ewing Gallery in Washington, DC, at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia, and elsewhere. My photography has utilized many formats including pinhole, plastic cameras, 35mm, panoramic, medium format, and view camera. I have printed with
traditional black & white materials, platinum and palladium,
gum bichromate, cyanotype, and type C color. Most recently,
I have become interested in using Photoshop's "digital darkroom" as an alternative to the traditional darkroom.

In addition to my teaching and fine art work, I have worked continuously in the commercial field - photographing portraits, events, fashion, products, architecture, public relation work, annual reports, press conferences, dance and theater productions, kings and queens, and just about anything else, even weddings!

Last, but certainly not least, I am husband to Lisa and father to T.J. and Aidan, my 9- and 7-year-old sons - undoubtedly my finest work.