Peter Poulides – Executive Director

Peter Poulides is the founder and executive director of DCP. Photography and Peter discovered each other when he was 13, having just moved to Athens, Greece. When his high school teachers wondered why he wasn’t in class, they knew to check the darkroom. Peter’s biology teacher was his first photography mentor and that teacher’s generosity and passion for helping a budding photographer came full circle when Peter started teaching 40 years later.

That’s the short story. In between, Peter earned a degree in TV & film production from UNT and worked as an educational video producer. A dream of being a travel photographer came into focus when he began shooting for Travel & Leisure magazine. That led to over a decade of assignments for national and regional travel and business publications, newspapers and corporations. His client list included: Smithsonian Magazine, Food and Wine, American Airlines, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, New York Times, Exxon, Frito Lay and Texaco.

In the 90’s, with two small children, Peter wanted to stay closer to home. He transitioned to shooting stock photography and became a top selling producer for Getty Images. A creative detour took him deep into the world of motion picture special effects and industrial robotics.
In 2008 he started a little teaching on the side and soon became fully committed. Conversations with his son and daughter, who each chose education as a career path and were happy to school their dad, revealed a startling idea: that by teaching photography, Peter was having more of an impact on the art of photography than he ever had by producing images for publication.

Peter believes in the power of photography. He’s looking forward to expanding DCP by connecting with other photography centers, offering a wider range of classes, creating youth programs, and continuing to exhibit innovative work in the DCP Gallery by hosting exhibits of local to national photographers along with community outreach projects. He believes that good photographs deserve to be released from their smartphone glass cages and given physical form on a gallery wall, telling their visual stories to engaged listeners.

Victoria Brill – Education and Programs Manager

Victoria is a passionate art professional and artist based in Dallas, TX. Victoria received her BA in Visual Arts, and minor in Art History, from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2018, shortly after receiving the Clare Hart DeGolyer Memorial Fund awarded by the Dallas Museum of Art.

Alongside her creative practice, Victoria has been a highly active member of the arts community through volunteerism and service throughout Dallas/Fort Worth. She has experience in arts education, development and public engagement after serving as the Education and Development Coordinator at Performing Arts Fort Worth and the Learning and Visitor Services Coordinator at Dallas Contemporary.

Victoria is currently honored with the responsibility of chairing the Cedars Union’s Programing Committee where she works alongside other local creatives to provide opportunities for emerging artist to connect more deeply with their community.

Whitney J. Daude-Willis – Darkroom and Gallery Manager

Originally from Ding Dong, TX Whitney received her BFA in Art/Photography from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2017. After graduation she became the Photo Lab Coordinator at UTA, assisting students in navigating studios, digital print labs, an alternative process lab and a black and white darkroom. In 2015, Whitney joined Scott Hilton & Bryan Wing of Project Barbatype; as the “tintype chemical jockey” and travels the great state of Texas photographing the men and women of the Beard and Mustache competitive world.

Becca Darrouzet – Development Coordinator

With a background in nonprofit administration, she strives to provide access to the arts for students, community members, and life-long learners. As a novice photographer, Becca enjoys learning what she and her camera are capable of capturing during her adventures around Dallas and abroad. One day she hopes to combine her love of dance with photography and produce compelling pictures of dancers in motion.

Courtney Coleman – Marketing, Web, and CRM

When Courtney is not chasing her kids to see what they put in their mouths, she’s chasing them with her camera. Sometimes both. Her love for photography truly blossomed when she joined the team at Dallas Center for Photography. For over 3 years Courtney supported the programming that has helped people fall in love with visually documenting their lives, families and travels. Still working remotely for DCP from her new home in Tyler, she now spends her time hanging out at horse ranches and exploring the many unique and interesting small towns in East Texas.