Darnell Renee

Darnell Renee is a portrait specialist, documentary and fine art photographer now living in Northern Arizona, where she has just opened a Fine Art Photography Gallery & Studio in Downtown Prescott. She began her photography career in Dallas, Texas where she attended several colleges in the Dallas area and eventually graduated from Southern Methodist University with a BA in Art History & Photography, also studying French.

She began her professional photography career long before graduating from SMU, however, with regular assignment work for the Dallas Morning News, Associated Press, and Southern Methodist University as her regular clients. She took a hiatus to complete her degree program, which was a lifelong dream of hers and resumed her freelance photojournalism career after graduating in 2000. With a newfound passion for her work and what it brings to peoples’ lives and the human experience, she embraced her documentary & fine art photography work.

Her photographic journey continued when she relocated from Texas to Orange County, where she enjoyed another period of photojournalism for the Orange County Register as a regular freelancer. This period began after she was discovered by staff photographer and Pulitzer Prize Photographer, Cindy Yamanaka, while Darnell was selling her art photography along the boardwalk of the Balboa Artwalk, on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California. She participated in several Balboa ArtWalks in SoCal before relocating to Northern, Arizona. In addition, her photography was featured in the Art of Aging exhibit at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, CA.

Currently, Darnell channels her wealth of experience into documentary and editorial photography, with a focus on projects such as "Working Cowboys and Cowgirls in the Southwest" and "Masters of Western Yoga." Alongside these endeavors, she continues to explore her passion for portraiture and fine art photography.