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Giant Cottonwoods, San Pedro River National Riparian Area, Arizona © Pete Lavigne

Another of Lavigne’s Many “Hats”

Margie Bird-Buendia | March 18, 2005

Pete Lavigne, founder and president of RFA, wears many hats - including a photographer's hat (whatever that may look like!) He has recently begun offering his photographs for sale.

In November 2004, at the Brooklyn-Sellwood Art Walk here in Portland, the RFA office was transformed into a gallery for the weekend, exhibiting and offering for sale some of Pete's finest photographs. Shots taken in Alaska, Utah, Bolivia, Pennsylvania, and Arizona were among the selections.

Pete is an environmental attorney, educator, writer and activist. But his favorite avocation is photography. He started shooting pictures as a young teenager, exploring the roads, streams, and mountains of New Hampshire and Vermont by foot and bicycle. Growing up in a culture of hunters and fishers, he always carried a camera along with the requisite rifle or fishing rod. Easily distracted after "catching a few brook trout or mostly scaring deer," he found himself increasingly focusing on landscape photography and close-up abstracts of nature.

His first camera was his father's Kodak Retina IIa Rangefinder. Pete describes it as "still a great camera with an excellent lens and indestructible construction." His first published pictures were shot on Kodachrome slides using that camera while he was in high school.

Many scenic framed and unframed photos are available for purchase in the RFA office, and we hope to find other outlets for the sale of Pete's work.

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