Alum John Spence Weir Founded Visual Dialogue Foundation at SF State

NAPA VALLEY REGISTER -- Alvarado came to photography late in life. A graduate of UC Berkeley (majoring in psychology) and Cal State East Bay (majoring in educational psychology), her professional life has included jobs as director of public schools programs and project manager for California’s Department of Health Services. In the late 1960s, her husband, photographer John Spence Weir — who holds an M.A. in photography and was a student of internationally known photographer and educator Jack Welpott — founded the Visual Dialogue Foundation (VDF) at San Francisco State long before photography was considered a fine art. “Victoria attended many VDF meetings held at their home where discussions were held,” Marable shared, “and she was a keen observer when she decided to do the Latina women project in early 2000. She took a couple of photo classes to learn darkroom techniques. Was she influenced by her husband? How could she not be?”