LANGLEY — For years, a stethoscope hung at his neck. Now it’s a camera.
David Welton, 77, is that guy you see everywhere on South Whidbey Island, snapping photos with a real camera, not a smartphone. He shows up at community events and seeks out quiet corners where island life unfolds, unnoticed.
His images appear in newspapers and blogs as well as brighten island billboards and library walls. About 60 photographs are featured in his latest show, a monthlong February exhibition at the South Whidbey Community Center in Langley.
“I documented life on Whidbey in the first quarter of the century,” Welton said.
Kids play hide-and-seek type game at South Whidbey State Park in February 2016. (David Welton)
His fascination with photography began at age 8, after his grandmother gave him a Kodak Starflash box camera. He saved allowance and birthday money for a makeshift darkroom, shutting himself in the bathroom with a contact printer.
In medical school, photography was a way to unwind from the pressures of training. As a cardiologist in Santa Barbara, his darkroom printing sessions were frequently interrupted by hospital emergencies.
“I stepped away from it,” he said. “I just did snapshots and color slides.”
Digital photography brought him back. “I didn’t need a darkroom anymore,” he said.
In 2005, he left California to practice at a cardiology clinic in Lynnwood. Whidbey Island offered a relaxed home life and was a photographer’s playground.
Welton took numerous photos for the South Whidbey Record in recent years. His work has earned state awards from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association.
“For someone who hasn’t made a full-time career out of it, I’m doing pretty well,” he said. “It’s my mad money.”
Photography also keeps him fit.
“To get some of the angles, you have to stoop, get up and move around. To keep up with the parade, you have to run ahead,” he said. “When I go out for an assignment, that’s my daily exercise.”
The photos add up. For the recent exhibit, Welton sifted through about 10,000 images, narrowing them to 60 with the help of his son, Nathan. His wife, Georgia Edwards, a retired oncologist, offered steady encouragement.
“The reason there are so many good pictures is because there’s so much cool stuff happening on the island,” Welton said. “I love living here. People come from all backgrounds, walks of life and political persuasions. I see good in everybody, and it’s fun getting to know people.”
This, he said, is how he communicates, tells stories and preserves memories.
“But in the end,” Welton said, “I just like to take pictures.”
Contact writer Andrea Brown at reporterbrown@gmail.com.
This story originally appeared in Sound & Summit magazine, The Daily Herald’s quarterly publication. Explore Snohomish and Island counties with each issue. Subscribe and receive four issues for $18. Call 425-339-3200 or go to soundsummitmagazine.com
Black Cat Ball at Bayview Hall, October 2022. (David Welton)
A girl admires spiders at Insect Safari, a summer program at the Freeland Library, in June 2008. (David Welton)
A man walks off the Whidbey ferry with his goat in August 2025. A man walks off the Whidbey ferry with his goat in August 2025. (David Welton)
Photographer David Welton. (Nathan Welton)
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