Photographer Nancy Sevier speaks about her work and curating 2025 PhotoCarmel.

It’s the 2025 PhotoCarmel month and Salinas-based photographer Nancy Sevier—a member of the Center for Photographic Art’s board—is the one who mapped the festival out, engaging with dozens of galleries, schools and businesses to participate in this big photo celebration. She is a retired photography teacher who is using her retirement as an opportunity to travel to such places as South Asia and photograph the world. 

“I used to just think it was enough to look at art,” she says, sounding surprised by her own creativity. “I started combining photography with found objects.”

As an example, she demonstrates a violin case with a cyanotype negative showing a woman, with a bow made of human hair as an addition. 

Sevier is not only a photographer, exposed to a dark room as early as elementary school, she also does sculpture and art installations. Her art’s favorite subject across the media are musical instruments and music-related objects she finds, falls in love with and transforms into her own creations. Her work can be seen this month in the Oldemeyer Center in Seaside, one of many places that participate in the festival.

“People are so excited,” she says about the 2025 PhotoCarmel. “They flew in from Canada, Iowa, Chicago and Washington—just for our members’ show. So I am thrilled with how it's going. I really am.”

Sevier loves the “Ansel Adams and Friends” local tradition of photography and thinks that CfPA embraced it, without missing out on new perspectives in photography. As an example, she mentions California photographer Paula Riff (1952-2021) that made people question what a photograph is.

Making art is only part of Sevier’s mission in the art world. 

“It’s lonely,” she says about working by oneself at home. “I do like reaching out to the community and putting people together. I take things that I love and play around with them like they're puzzle pieces until something comes together. Maybe that's a little of what I do with curating—bringing people together.”

Asked for her 2025 PhotoCarmel highlights, she recommends checking out the MPC gallery, which is closed, but they're opening just for occasion. Becky Brister is the head of photography at MPC and she is curating a show of alternative processes and bringing in photographer Jonathan Castillo from Chicago, who will speak virtually. Also, go visit Sweet Elena's Bakery & Café in Sand City to see photographs by the current CfPA president Dennis Segers and that by the former president Matt Connors.