Melanie Dees Andress

Monroe County

Photography

“I always have my camera or cheat with my phone. You never know when you might see something to shoot” said Melanie Andress. Said with a smile, “My husband had a camera and I decided I could do as well or better.”

“My ‘real job’ is the office manager for the Public Defender’s Office for the 35^th Judicial Circuit. I have worked in some capacity in the court system most of my life. That pays the bills. My passion, however, has become photography.”

Creative relatives that inspired Melanie were her mother, a published author, her grandmother and an aunt that were quilters, and her father who “always took me exploring.” Many of those explorations took place in communities that are located in the Black Belt Region: Beatrice, Buena Vista, Vredenburgh, Coy, Hybart and Camden - communities in Monroe and Wilcox Counties. Fond memories that became subjects for future photographs were made traveling the back roads with her father on his delivery routes. Wildlife was, and still is abundant and old homes and churches can still be seen. Melanie’s photographs capture the beauty of the Black Belt Region’s past and present through the eyes of a real artist.