The place of home, where anyone who came in was family, and the coffee was served hot. George followed in has fathers’ footsteps taking over the family restaurant and running it with love. Known for feeding the city, Lil Joe’s operated for 72 years until George’s untimely passing in 2020.
William Mark Sommer is a visual artist and educator working with in the small town of Loomis, California. Through Sommer's work in analog photography, he has received a BFA in Art Photography from Arizona State University and traversed the United States developing a practice that engages in themes of human nature, preservation, empathy and time.
Growing up in a bypassed highway town of Loomis, Sommer’s life was shaped by small-town American culture. This culture along the Lincoln Highway gave him a deep admiration towards the overlooked and in-between places that were forgotten by the many.
Awards Sommer has exhibited projects in North America and Europe; venues including, The International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, Center For Fine Art Photography, Midwest Center For Photography, Center for Photographic Art, Belfast Photo Festival, Incadaques International Photo Festival, Yeiser Art Center, Northlight Gallery, His awards include Life Framer’s First Prize Award Selected by Alex Prager and British Journal of Photography & 1854 Media “Open Walls” and “Decade of Change”, He has also been featured in publications like Stay Wild magazine, Lodown Magazine, Aint Bad, Booooooom, C41 magazine, and Subjectively Objective.
