Three years ago, Dave Brewer’s daily routine began by rolling out of bed and climbing down the ladder of his makeshift loft-bedroom — a bedroom located in the middle of a construction zone.
That construction zone was the start of Brewer’s brainchild, the SLC Photo Collective. Today, the collective represents a community where photographers and other visual artists gather, communicate, learn, and create.
Long before the birth of the collective, Brewer recognized the need for such a place. “I had a studio space before I opened up this space,” Brewer says. “I loved the opportunity to allow other photographers to come shoot [in the studio space], and I liked how it was starting to bring certain people together.”
Bringing creative minds together is what the collective excels at, and offering an area where imaginative activity occurs takes thought and ingenuity. Luckily, Brewer has those characteristics and many more.
Brewer brought his refreshing personality to the collective’s interior design by recreating the space with original ideas. The main floor of the SLC Photo Collective is no longer Brewer’s home, nor is it a hazard zone. It is now a modern loft space, and though its look is contemporary, Brewer made sure to expose the building’s history by keeping some of its walls bare with the original brick foundation.
He also livened up the space by painting a giant film canister on the east wall of the collective’s reception area. The collective constantly revolves new artwork from Salt Lake City’s photographers.
The collective is providing a space for creative thinking and artistic development. Its main goal is to provide a workspace for photographers, graphic designers and the like. The collective also strives to instruct its visitors.
Gregory Thoennes has been directly affected by the SLC Photo Collective and now works to spread its goals of education.
Thoennes spends his days enveloped in investment trading with the stock market. To him, the collective is a place where he can escape the business side of his life and explore his artistic mentalities.
“Really, I’m an instructor there. My primary goal is to help out the collective in anyway I can,” Thoennes says. “I work full time … I do photography as my primary hobby. I came to the collective at their initial launch party, and I was blown away.”
Since Thoennes’ introduction to the collective, he has recognized its potential to introduce people to unknown worlds and embrace the colorful and whimsical side of photography, which is something budding photographers have trouble with.
The mathematical and technical side of photography can be overwhelming, but Thoennes loves witnessing the ‘I get it’ moment with brand-new photographers.
“[Sometimes people] aren’t able to connect the dots. They know there are dots, but they haven’t been able to see how to balance the ISO versus the shutter speed versus the aperture,” Thoennes says. “When I go in a class, I like to use a lot of analogy. I give analogies, and they see the light bulb.”
Thoennes received an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. There, he learned how to teach. Now, he volunteers those skills to the photo collective in hopes of spreading his love of art to Salt Lake City.
In addition to educating others, Thoennes has acquired vast amounts of knowledge from Brewer. Thoennes’ original interest in photography was in travel photography. Now he is drawn to portraiture. Thanks to Dave, he has the skill to use flash photography and highlight the intricate angles of his models’ faces.
“Dave made me feel comfortable. He taught me ‘this is why we are doing this. This is why we are putting the light here. This is why we are creating this setting,’  ” Thoennes says. “I just loved it. I just want to teach others that, because it is not difficult.
Light is light.”
At a recent SLC Photo Collective gathering with NIYA Model Management, Thoennes used his newly acquired skills to shoot the agency’s models. At the soirée, a NIYA model noticed Thoennes had taken a picture of her. She loved the photograph. She even selected to place it on her comp card, a model’s version of a business card. Thoennes stresses he would not have been able to produce such an image without the help of Brewer and
the collective.
From collaborative events with model agencies to community happenings, Brewer and the collective reach to bring photography to the hands of the working class and the underprivileged. To him, photography isn’t solely meant for highbrow society.
Each year, Brewer takes part in Help-Portrait, a global initiative in which photographers dedicate their time by capturing images of people who are in need of portraits.
To plan Help-Portrait, Brewer coordinates with homeless shelters, Boys & Girls clubs, and other non-profit organizations.
Two years ago, the SLC Photo Collective housed the event, and Brewer hopes to fully participate in Help-Portrait this year.
“[We] provided free hair and makeup, free photos and free prints — all to show people they are beautiful,” Brewer says.
Brewer’s goal of recognizing people’s ability and beauty has affected Help-Portrait’s participants. Darrie Albers and her boyfriend Dale Christoferson have attended the event the last few years. They really appreciate Brewer’s kindness. They also liked how he used Photoshop to cover up the blemishes and flaws on their faces.
The couple felt honored when Brewer decided to display their story on the collective’s walls. “They were still holding pictures [and film of us] from two or three years ago … We didn’t know they held our pictures,” Christoferson says.
Brewer’s aspirations to bring free happenings to the public have proved successful. Last July, the SLC Photo Collective celebrated its two-year anniversary. Though the conglomerate of photographers has only been up and running for two years, the building has acted as the scenery and background of several stories
and photographs.
Built in 1910 and located at 561 W. 200 S., the SLC Photo Collective building is one of the three remaining structures from Salt Lake City’s old Greektown.

At its anniversary shindig, the SLC Photo Collective replicated a photo taken in front of the building over 100 years ago.
“It’s interesting to recognize that these people back in 1910 didn’t think too much about the photographic process they were engaging in. They shot this photo to document the moment,” Brewer says. “I don’t think any of them suspected that this building would be a photo studio and that we would be celebrating capturing these moments and documenting our city.“
From recognizing and recreating history to making memories of its own, the photo collective is expanding. The building recently opened up a darkroom and is working on an upstairs workspace. The second floor will house a natural light studio and work areas for 2D artists.
“I’ve learned Dave is a designer. He creates his world. He creates his surroundings. He creates his social network … I’ve seen it [the collective] fancied up with beautiful roses and flowers for a wedding. I’ve seen it become a hot topic model agency party with super  hot guys and girls walking around. I’ve seen it as a hang out,” says Jessica Judy Gilmore, Brewer’s confidante and girlfriend.
It’s amazing to think this community grew from the mind of one man. The SLC Photo Collective comes attached to Brewer. His friends are always happy to praise his hard work.
Paul Duane, comedian and long time friend of Brewer, called him a chick magnet. He also recalled the many nights he spent at the collective and the conversations he had with Brewer. “[With Dave] spiritual and artistic creativity walk hand-in-hand. [When leaving the collective,] you walk home, and the next day the world is a little bit different.”