​Lucille Lancry | Photography

I lived for a year in Lexington, Virginia, and worked as a French TA at Washington & Lee University, when I was 21 years old. I took the opportunity to attend photography classes, and this is how I received my first film camera, the Pentax K1000. 

The University, located in the historic city of Lexington, was founded in 1749, and is named for two of the most influential men in American history: George Washington and Robert E. Lee.

Lexington is an incredible little town to capture. Its powerful history is haunted by the spirit of the Civil War: the General Robert E. Lee (buried in Lee Chapel in front of the Colonnade) and the General Stonewall Jackson.

It’s located in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains, and the beauty of the scenery is surpassed only by the character of the people- both the students coming from all over the country and the permanent residents of Rockbridge County.

When walking through Lexington, it is easy to imagine it as the set of an old western film where a Clint Eastwood-esque character brings both law and order to the cobbled streets.