Sean Lennon Salyards

Sean was born on May 31, 1982, in Rockville, Maryland. He spent his formative years in Chantilly, Virginia, and attended the University of Virginia, graduating summa cum laude with a double major in Fine/Studio Arts and Art History. He went on to obtain his Masters in Fine Arts from Indiana University Bloomington, with a focus in Photographic Arts. A natural teacher, he applied his gifts as both an independent artist and as a member of the faculty at George Mason University School of Art, where he taught graphic design and photography classes (including a class that included his future wife!). In 2016, he joined Deloitte, where he ultimately became a Senior Product Manager for Deloitte Digital.

Sean had the ability to see beauty where others did not, and his art reflected this. His photography focused on the American experience, and in particular oft-overlooked communities in rural Florida. His photographs won numerous awards, including the American Photo 2008 Image of the Year, and appeared in galleries across the U.S. and Germany. His photo essays appeared in Art Cologne, Sarasota Magazine, and Virginia Literary Review, among other publications. His thesis for his MFA was a photo essay documenting the life of his paternal grandmother, Pauline and her struggles with diabetes. He wrote that taking photographs became “an important way to bear witness to her life.” In an interview about his work, Sean said that the photographs “kind of revitalized her…it was like her suffering was purposeful.” 20 years later, those words would describe the art he created as part of his own journey with cancer.

His life was marked by a humble devotion to his Heavenly Father, and he served in various capacities in his churches over the years and discipled many in their walks with God. He married his wife Adrienne in 2013, and their shared passion for following Jesus shaped every facet of their life together.

He was diagnosed with brain cancer at 35 and had four brain surgeries and numerous rounds of chemo and radiation over the following seven years. Even in the midst of battling cancer, he continued to live a full and joyful life. Less than a year after his first brain surgery he ran the Marine Corps Marathon, and he would go on to compete in a triathlon and many more races. He and Adrienne joyfully became the parents to two children, both of whom felt like miraculous gifts from God. He transitioned to hospice care the day after being received into the Anglican church.

He is survived by Adrienne, Calvin (4), and Sunday (1), as well as his mother, Cindy Salyards Long, and stepfather, Maurice “Butch” I. Long, Jr. He was preceded in death by his father, Michael Salyards. He is survived by many loving nieces, nephews, and in-laws.

His life will be commemorated in a service at The Falls Church Anglican on July 25, 2024, at 1 p.m. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” I Cor. 13:12.