Visual sociologist, Tracy Xavia Karner, is an expert in how people use visual media to understand themselves and their worlds. An award winning teacher and a nationally-known expert in the field of qualitative sociology, she explores the social contexts of image creation and dissemination as well as their role in everyday visual sociability. Xavia’s recent writings investigate photography in fine art venues and everyday uses, such as Facebook, and have been published in both popular and academic venues. An engaging speaker, Xavia has lectured internationally as well as throughout the US. Additionally, she is on the Editorial Board for the international journal Visual Studies and is active in the Houston photography community serving on the Advisory Board of Houston Center for Photography, as a supporter and past officer of Photo Forum at Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and as a reviewer for Fotofest’s 2010 Meeting Place.  Currently, she is working on a book, Passion, Possibility, and Photography: Creating an Art World in Houston, Texas which chronicles forty years of the Houston photography community, from its inception to its recognition as an internationally significant destination for photography.