Dennis Neal Vaughn (b. 1959) grew up on a working farm in Central Illinois. Mr. Vaughn's parents were both children during the depression and remember going hungry at times. It was this experience that made his parents go into farming after World War II. Amidst the great prairie plains and expanse of fields, Mr. Vaughn also had access to a 100 acre timber with a creek, ponds, and a meadow. This immersion into nature and the land continues to be an important aspect of his life as much of his childhood was spent alone and isolated, exploring this insulated world that surrounded him.
Photography began for him in high school and ultimately led him to receive his M. A. from Illinois State University in 1983 in photography and drawing. Mr. Vaughn then went on to live in the urban world of Chicago and now resides in San Francisco. A succession of long term serious illnesses forced Mr. Vaughn to focus on his health and for a brief time he was homeless. Fortunately, even though he is now on disability, he has been able to get back to his love of photography. Farm grown and city wise, he focuses his photographs on these two worlds, that of the landscape and the street, and the questions that arise from the struggles of daily life.