About Us

Dean Mayo - Photographer

As a photographer based in the Eastern Coachella Valley since 2005, Dean Mayo’s artistic practice and process have been primarily to showcase the beauty of the Coachella Valley and its people through the lens of his camera. 

In addition to photographing things that exemplify everyday life in the Coachella Valley, Dean’s work has also been focused on capturing images of several sensitive environmental areas such as Joshua Tree National Park, Salton Sea, The Coachella Valley Preserve, wind turbine fields, San Jacinto National Monument and the Indian Canyons. 

During the last few years, Dean has won awards through the California Desert Arts Foundation for one of his photos of the Salton Sea, including first place in the San Jacinto National Monument photo contest through Palm Springs Life which featured his photo of Tahquitz Falls that brought awareness to the fragile environmental area of the Indian Canyons. 

Dean personally processes and prints his images on various media such as archival photo paper, canvas, metal, glass, and more. He maintains a website – www.foretography.com – to showcase and promote many of the numerous images he produces. His work is also displayed in various public forums which include more than 60 exhibitions per year on at least a weekly basis in areas from Indio to Palm Springs. His photos have been installed in public buildings throughout the valley, including Desert Regional Medical Center and the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Palm Springs.

Bob Marra – Writer and Promoter

Bob’s role in the project is to add depth and context to the featured photographic images Dean captures by writing essays to tell the stories of how the people of Coachella, Thermal, and Mecca are forced to confront the social risk factors that await them on a daily basis. 

The old adage is that “a picture tells a thousand words,” but when Bob adds his essays about the places and things that contribute to poor health outcomes of the project area and stories about the people facing the challenges that these places and things present, we can affect a heightening awareness of the human needs and strife that necessitate better solutions as soon as possible. 

In addition to writing the essays and stories for the 25 featured images, Bob will serve as our project’s liaison to the community and the regional media. He has many long-term relationships with key leaders in government, business, and community services in Coachella, Thermal, and Mecca based on his work for organizations and individuals in those areas over more than 20 years such as the City of Coachella, County of Riverside, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coachella Valley, Coachella Valley Unified School District, along with several of the largest agriculture growers in the Eastern Coachella Valley.