A Photographer’s Eye

It all started when she was a little girl running around with a camera in hand.

There was just something special about capturing that very moment in time through her mind’s eye.

As she grew up in Altamonte Springs, Veronica Diaz’s passion for photography blossomed — which was helped along in part thanks to her grandfather, who enjoyed photography as a hobby.

Now, years later, Diaz is ecstatic to have her work on a month-long display at the Maitland Public Library.

“I shoot whatever speaks to me, like whatever I see — I’m like, ‘Oh, that looks cool,’” Diaz said.

Diaz had been thinking about doing a show at the library for some time — since first exhibiting her work at a restaurant downtown in 2014. Photography is a hobby for Diaz, who works as a training coordinator for Siemens.

Most of the 27 images hanging around the library are made up of a few different categories, such as still life and landscapes. An image of a silhouetted figures eating in a restaurant sits next to a photo featuring a lone transit tricycle sitting out on the sidewalk.

Still life and street photography are favorites of Diaz, who generally shoots when she is traveling.

“I just know that particularly when I was going to school, one of the projects that I did — I called it the Salt Lake Vibe — so I had a variety of images that were street photography so it was just kind of showing the life, through my eyes, in the Salt Lake Valley— I really enjoyed that,” Diaz said. 

“As I was getting ready for this — it was a big culmination for me — and I felt like this was kind of been years coming and preparation to even get to this point, so I thought, ‘Here it is.’”

 

— Veronica Diaz

The Diaz exhibit is a part of a larger effort on the part of the library to help share the arts with the surrounding community and give local artists their time in the spotlight.

Each month, a new artist or art group comes in and installs their show, which can be enjoyed by the community.

Library Art Coordinator Veronica Dailey has spent the past several years working with bringing in local artists. Her idea was largely inspired by what she saw as a lack in the arts around the library itself.

“The Maitland Library is a community center, people come here — we know their name, we talk to them — they come in and look at the art,” Dailey said. “Before we had all this art, it was just an element that was missing. This library has been here for over 120 years, and everything we add to it just adds to the dimension of the community.”

The chance to showcase work has attracted many different artists, who work in a range of media and come from an array of backgrounds. For some artists, it may be their first ever exhibit, while for others, their 10th. 

For Diaz, this is just the second exhibit she has done. 

There was an excitement in her eyes early Saturday morning as she prepared her show with the help of her two sisters and a dear friend. Seeing the photos hang on the wall was like a shot of reality — she was finally getting to hang her work up at the library.

“As I was getting ready for this — it was a big culmination for me — and I felt like this was kind of been years coming and preparation to even get to this point, so I thought, ‘Here it is,’” Diaz said. “It’s a climax, but I don’t feel it is the ultimate one, so I don’t know where things go from here.”