Cook County News Herald

Portraits captures Cook County on film





Just a few of the people of Cook County featured in Portraits: A Sense of Place at the Johnson Heritage Post from June 1 – 24. From top: Ed Hedstrom, Carah Thomas, Joe Carlson.

Just a few of the people of Cook County featured in Portraits: A Sense of Place at the Johnson Heritage Post from June 1 – 24. From top: Ed Hedstrom, Carah Thomas, Joe Carlson.

What does Cook County look like? The scenery can be outstanding, soothing, exhilarating or amazing. We all know this and enjoy it profoundly, but what else comes to mind?

Portraits: A Sense of Place explores 60 local faces of eastern Cook County residents at work, at home, out and about, doing what they do. This photographic show by Virginia Danfelt at the Johnson Heritage Post opens Friday, June 1 and continues through Sunday, June 24. It promises to be a unique exhibit.

The basic idea is simple: through a collection of individual portraits, another portrait emerges, one of a community or group of communities. In this case, Grand Portage, Hovland and Grand Marais are grouped together. The diverse people photographed are typically long-term, even lifetime residents and form the basis of local society. It is a show where many people are missing, but no one is extraneous.

Portraits: A Sense of Place is also a tribute to film in that the entire exhibit was produced using a 2¼ square negative film camera. Film development and printing was done in a traditional wet darkroom on fiber-based paper. It is a process still in limited use today and predates the digital age. A booklet of the show will be available for purchase at the gallery.

 

 

This exhibit is funded in part with a 2011 Career Development Grant that photographer Virginia Danfelt received from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council which is funded in part with money from the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage and The McKnight Foundation.




 

 

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