Winter Drives with a Film Camera

Photos and text by Ken McQuade, AIA | June 10, 2021

Images 1–8: For the Lands Sake, Bloomer, Wisconsin; Land O Lakes, Lafayette, Minnesota; Layers, New Ulm, Minnesota; Container City, Minneapolis; Night Tracks, Minneapolis; Long Winter, Maiden Rock, Wisconsin; Silos in Snow, Maiden Rock; Unlikely Yoga Studio, Bloomer.

POSTCARD

I returned to film photography in early 2020, shortly before the pandemic. On weekends, I liked to take my Pentax 6x7 out in Minneapolis or on one- or two-hour drives outside the Twin Cities. What started as a creative escape turned into an ongoing exploration of agricultural and industrial scenes in places like Grove City and Norseland, Minnesota, and Maiden Rock and Bloomer, Wisconsin.

As an architect, I’m drawn to buildings, structures, and environments that are authentic, honest, and beautiful in their simplicity and purpose. I also really enjoy discovering the unusual juxtapositions that can be found in small communities, such as a yoga studio next to a feed mill. The process of shooting with a medium-format film camera gets me to slow down and appreciate the details in these richly textured settings.

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