Chelsea Reagan spends a lot of time taking pictures.

A self proclaimed sucker for fields of flowers, old barns with vintage advertising, for anything that spells out Missouri in image form, she often roams the region with camera in hand. Apart from a show in college as part of a class project, however, she never put her work on display.

“Other than Facebook,” Reagan pointed out.

Indeed, it was a Facebook post that led to judges selecting two of her photographs to be part of the My Missouri 2021 Photo Project, presented online and in a traveling exhibit to celebrate the state’s bicentennial.

After posting the image, a relative called and urged her to enter it in the contest. She sent five to the judges and considered it wise the organizers set a limit.

“I probably would have sent hundreds,” Reagan said with a laugh.

It’s as if her passions — for photography and for Missouri — aligned. The contest intended to highlight the diverse geography and cultural landscape of the state.

“There’s a lot of great stuff out there,” she pointed out. “I thought I could show a little of our corner — I think we’re overlooked.”

Reagan lives in Mexico, where she works with Commerce Bank, transferring from a St. Louis location in 2018. But she grew up on a farm in Montgomery County, where she snapped four of the submitted photos.

The other is a stark image of a tired barn on a drab winter day in Callaway County.

It’s lighting and framing makes the familiar Meramec Caverns painted on the side of the structure seem to leap from the image. It calls to life road trips as a child, with decorated barns rising in the distance, passing by and then fading from view, one after another.

It speaks of Missouri, a timeline in a frame.

“I’m a big fan of antiques and vintage advertising,” Reagan explained. “I’m a sucker for wildflowers, but I don’t know if I’m drawn to anything in particular. I just love Missouri.”

She received her first camera as a sophomore in high school some 15 years ago. After graduating from the University of Missouri — St. Louis she put aside her interest to focus on a banking career.

Reagan spent 10 years at a branch of Commerce Bank in the city before opting to transfer to Mexico.

She was in her office when she learned two of her five photos had been selected for the exhibit. Reagan immediately rushed into the lobby to share the news with her coworkers.

“I was really surprised,” she said. “For them to even consider one would be awesome, but to have two?”

Many of the traveling exhibition dates were canceled due to the pandemic. However, three remain on the schedule.

The current showing, at the St. Josephs Visitors Center, ends tomorrow. The exhibit then moves to the Midwest Genealogy Center in Independence from June 30 through July 12.

It winds up in St. Genevieve.

“I’m hoping to go to Independence and see it in person,” she said.