A 17-year-old photographer opened up his first art gallery Friday at the Moscow Food Co-op.

Avery Caudill, a Moscow resident, said he has been waiting a year for this gallery to happen.

“The waitlist for the actual show is a year long,” he said. “All but one of these photos I hadn’t actually taken until after I was scheduled.”

After signing up for the waiting list and having his photos get the attention of Annie Hubble, art coordinator at the co-op, he got an opportunity to exhibit his work.

Caudill said it is “pretty cool” he has been given the opportunity to have an art gallery at such a young age and he’s proud to showcase his work.

Hubble said Caudill and his family are frequent customers in the co-op, and after seeing his pictures on Facebook she was happy to give him an opportunity to hang his photos in the store.

She added that she did not know if Caudill had done an art show yet and she wanted to give him one because of how good his photography is.

“[I] try to support artists who haven’t got a huge amount of recognition yet,” Hubble said.

Caudill said he has been doing photography for five or six years, and when he goes out to take pictures his main focus is landscapes.

“I really like water, because you can kinda smooth it out, use a bunch of different textures,” he said. “Sunset and sunrise are good for the color.”

His interest in photography began as a way to document his time outdoors, Caudill said. He’s spent his whole life out in nature and thought doing photography would be a good way to portray that.

As a resident of Moscow, he said the Pacific Northwest is where most of his pictures are taken, but he does photography wherever he goes, posting to his Instagram @averycphotography.

“If I’m traveling I always have my camera,” he said.

Caudill said getting into photography was something he did on his own, but his main inspiration is Peter McKinnon and other YouTubers and Instagrammers.

When it comes to the process of his photography, Caudill said he does research of the places he goes to take photos.

He often hikes or drives around to find the right shot, experimenting with different angles and exposures. After he takes the picture he starts to think about how to edit it in post-processing.

Caudill said he hopes there will an opportunity for more showcases.

In addition to photography, Caudill said he recently started doing documentary filmmaking and wants to do both professionally. He plans to go to college for filmmaking or photography.

The display, which Caudill is selling, will hang at the Moscow Food Co-op’s deli gallery until Oct. 10.