Broken Duluth

Opening Reception March 2nd, 2017. 5-7PM.

Facebook Event

Statement

"If I were looking at this photo a hundred years from now, having not lived in this time period, would it be interesting to me?"

As I've been photographing throughout the Lake Superior Watershed over the past five years, the sentiment of the above quote is typically at the front of my mind as I size up any subject for a photograph.

While many photographs of the more mundane aspects of the current world we live in may take decades or more to really reach this goal, others tend to meet it immediately. Those that are of periods of transition seem to be the subjects that float to the top the quickest.

Many of these transitional periods are fairly routine, however. For example, the planned demolition of a building may be brief in the life of a structure that may have existed for a hundred years, but will still generally look like any typical demolition of a building.

Broken Duluth explores some of the more rare moments of transition—the so-called Acts of God. Those incidents when the system as we know it breaks in the most unexpected and spectacular ways. The moments that almost certainly generate news coverage, and end up as getting passed down as a sort of folklore between those who witnessed it to those who didn’t.

I see this part of my body of work more to serve the part of me that is an armchair historian as opposed to a creative artist. As such—and as an exercise in viewing classic vs contemporary photography—I am also including in this exhibition some photographs taken around Duluth generations ago that now serve the same purpose asI hope these photograph will generations from now.

This series is a small subset of a much larger body of work exploring the areas around Lake Superior titled Watershed. To tell an honest story, I don't believe that the moments of tragedy should be glossed over. The toll of these events, and the people affected by them isn't lost on me. I'd like to use these photos not to benefit myself, but to help benefit others. Thus proceeds from any sales will be donated to local local non-profits that will be determined after the show.

Northeast Minnesota Historical Center Collections, Archives and Special Collections, Kathryn A. Martin Library, University of Minnesota Duluth

Purchasing Information

Prints from this exhibition can be ordered here on my shopping website.

Note: Pricing is for the K. Praslowicz original photos only. The historical photos from the Kathryn A. Martin Library are not for sale.

If you are interested in any of the 24x30 framed prints that are on display, please contact Red Herring Lounge for payments and pick up.

Smaller sizes will be printed on demand. If you are interested in any of the photographs in the 11x14 size, please contact me and I'll get it put together for you.