Dr. Stacy Noel Hicks began exploring photography in high school, where she first worked in a darkroom and received her first Nikon camera, but did not start exploring the medium seriously for a few more years. She is self-taught in the art of photography and has found mentors and others to be inspired by. As someone committed to learning, she continues to seek opportunities to learn new techniques and try new things. Her preferred style is rooted in black and white as it is just more honest. While her first love is history, the arts became a part of her life through the exploration of photography, leading her to Seattle University, where she graduated with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Arts Leadership. After a few years more years, she went back to school and received her Doctor of Education, (Ed.D.), in Educational and Organizational Learning and Leadership, also from Seattle University Stacy is a passionate supporter of the arts, serving as a community arts advocate through volunteering and working for arts and service nonprofit organizations throughout her career. Stacy has called Olympia home for over a decade.
For Stacy, photography is about connection. For a moment, through the lens, the world around us lets us in on the details, the spaces in between things. To make the unseen, the unnoticed, seen. To capture those moments that otherwise might slip by us because we didn’t look up or look closer or just stand still. She strives not to impose her thoughts, ideas or feelings on the person experiencing the moment they view the work. That’s when the connection happens, in the differences, the stories that emerge from what the observer is seeing versus what she saw or felt when she stood still for a moment. She invites you to look closer and to tell her what you see.
