Local photography has a new home at St. Mary’s Hospital. The St. Mary’s County Camera Club has teamed up with the hospital to display chosen photographs from their collection. 

 
Tom Faucheux, the club’s competition director, said he came up with the idea for the display when he and his wife visited the hospital and noticed the pictures hung around the X-ray area but the lack of photographs elsewhere in the hospital. Faucheux and his fellow club members decided to work with the hospital to help bring some cheer to the walls.   
 
The club will rotate the photographs in a hallway near the hospital’s main lobby and within the Rehabilitation Medicine Department. All photos are available for purchase, with 10 percent of the profits going to the hospital’s Auxiliary, a fundraising arm of the hospital. Please call 301-475-6010 to coordinate any purchase. Purchased photographs will be framed in glass, while those in the display are framed in Plexiglas for patient safety.    
 
“The people who come to the hospital for whatever reason get to enjoy the art and see local talent and how the hospital keeps the community involved with outreach programs like this one,” Faucheux said.
 
The club consists of local photographers of all ages and experience levels, providing a forum for exchanging knowledge of photography and inspiring amateurs toward improving their art, according to the club’s Web site. “We have members who use point-and-shoot cameras up to National Geographic photographers in our club,” Faucheux said. 
 
The group also offers classes in Adobe Photoshop software, lighting and studio work, with frequent guest speakers. Members travel to local destinations for photography excursions and participate in monthly competitions and an annual picnic or banquet. Members are also active in photographing local activities such as Christmas in April, have exhibited at the Lexington Park Library and Southern Maryland Higher Education Center, and have officiated the photography division of the St. Mary’s County Fair. The group celebrated its tenth anniversary this year.  
 
To learn more about the club, please visit www.smccc.org. Visitors and new members are always welcome.