Dolly Parton’s Photographer Graduated From Which Midland/Odessa High School?
Dolly Parton is an icon, and a Permian Basin high school graduate was the photographer that took pictures for her latest album.
According to CBS 7, Stacie Huckeba has been taking pictures since she was a little girl and when she was asked to take pictures of Dolly Parton for her new album, how could she say "no?"
Huckeba was the photographer for the school paper at Permian High School capturing the moments of her and her classmates' time in high school.
She also loved to take pictures of any musicians that would drop by and perform in Odessa, “I’ve been shooting artists and musicians really since high school there in Odessa, Texas. I remember shooting Sammy Hagar when I was like 15 at the Ector County Coliseum,” said Huckeba.
She became a part of Dolly's team in 2020, but she has worked with several celebrity clients over the years.
What landed her the job was taking pictures of Dolly at the Ryman.
"I took a bunch of shots of her at the Ryman. She loved the work, and she loved [one] picture specifically. Several years after that they tapped me to come to do her Christmas album…the Holly Dolly Christmas in 2020,” said Huckeba.
The photo on the cover of Dolly's new album "Run, Rose, Run" was a favorite of Huckeba's during the shoot and she was especially surprised when it was used as the cover shot.
“I had dreamed of getting her in front of a 12-minute sky for years and years and years. We finally pulled it off this year. I didn’t know if they were going to use it because she had several choices of what she wanted for the album cover. What they originally envisioned for it wound up being very different,” said Huckeba.
Her love of photography took her out of Odessa, but she wanted to give a message to the youth in the Permian Basin: “Stick with your art, stick with your passion. Get out of there when you can if you can. Go places where the weird is the norm. Stay true to your roots. Stay true to your soul.”
Huckeba continues to work for Dolly on some "top secret" projects currently.