Denise Hestand Douglas is a photographer and educator based in St. Louis, MO. She studied at Fontbonne University in St. Louis earning her BFA in Studio Arts, MA and MFA in Photography. She worked for Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis as a gallery assistant and began teaching at Southwestern IL College and Fontbonne after graduation, eventually becoming gallery director at Fontbonne University before committing to a full time instructor and gallery director at MICDS in St. Louis. Denise has exhibited her work nationally and locally, including Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis Artists’ Guild, Soulard Art Gallery and Fontbonne University Gallery of Fine Art. In addition to “straight” shooting with Nikon 35mm and Rolleiflex medium format, Denise has always been drawn to the imperfections in photography as a way to create more interesting and ambiguous imagery. She mostly shoots with a Holga camera. Entirely made of plastic (including the lens) and lacking any real control in exposure and focus, the Holga creates ephemeral photos that seem to lose their sense of time and place if the subject doesn’t give it away. The resulting photos speak to the past in often dreamlike images.