On the other side of the camera— Stephan Hoglund is celebrating his 30th year of business in Grand Marais this year. Stop by Superior Designs and the Boreal Light Imagery gallery and see what’s new.
Sitting down for an interview amongst the chaos of moving on November 9, Stephan Hoglund spoke of the many “gifts” he received that led him to a 30-year artistic career in Grand Marais. From jewelry designer and ornamental metal worker to photographer and gallery owner, the sometimes brusque owner of Superior Designs and Boreal Light Imagery is once again shaking things up in downtown Grand Marais with a rearrangement of his jewelry store on Wisconsin Street and photo gallery on Broadway Avenue.
Hoglund said one of the first gifts along the way was from a coach. He said as a teen he was getting into trouble in school, and frank as always, he admits that as a result of being bullied, he was a bully. A teacher and baseball coach took him under his wing and steered Hoglund toward sports. Hoglund was eventually a member of the Mountain Iron High School championship team. Hoglund credits the coach with “saving him,” by helping him break the cycle of bullying. “A bully must see that in themselves, accept it and change it,” said Hoglund, adding, “He helped me focus on what I really loved—sports and art.”
Adventures on ice – March 2009
Hoglund graduated and attended college at St. Cloud State where, he said, he received another gift. He had planned to pursue an education degree, but found that too restrictive. He liked to draw, so he signed up for art classes. In those classes he met some grad students who helped him realize he had “some talent” in jewelry making. “Theyalso helped me be a bit softer person,” said Hoglund, adding that he is still an “Iron Range redneck liberal.”
Another gift came about via a summer job with the U.S. Forest Service at Lake Vermilion near Ely. Hoglund worked as a firefighter, meeting a fellow named Don Noyce on a flight to a fire in a DeHavilland Beaver. Hoglund learned a lot from Noyce, about the wilderness—and about a town named Grand Marais. Because of his friendship with Noyce, Hoglund made his first trip to Grand Marais, where he found kindred spirits. He remembers that the theater group had just opened the Grand Marais Playhouse. The Grand Marais Art Colony thrived. “There was just this amazing mix of people and cultures. I never left,” he said.
Wave s was h over light h ouse – Oc tober 2010
Well, except for several winters. A group of people from Grand Marais trekked to the Florida Keys and there Hoglund met John Buzogany, an extremely talented jeweler. For seven seasons he worked as an intern, until finally his mentor told him, “go home and open your own shop.” “Another gift,” said Hoglund.
He returned to Grand Marais and worked planting trees over the summer. “I made $500 and I opened Superior Designs,” he said. The Cook County News-Herald
documented the event, reporting on July 2, 1981 that Hoglund had opened Superior Designs “by Eckel’s fish house across from the Forest Service.”
Hoglund later moved to the current jewelry store location in the small shop between Joynes Ben Franklin and Gunflint Tavern on Wisconsin Street. And there, he still offers his jewelry for sale, along with samples of his photography.
However, most of his photography can be seen in his recently opened Boreal Light Imagery on Broadway. The Broadway gallery houses an eclectic mix of props for photo shoots—elegant gowns and faux furs, funky furniture and musical instruments— and of course fabulous photos and portraits by Hoglund.
No one is more surprised than Hoglund by the fantastic success of his photography. He branched into photography almost by accident. In 1999 he received an Arrowhead Regional Arts Commission Fellowship— the first jeweler to be awarded this grant. The ARAC grant, along with a Jerome Foundation travel and study grant to study his Nordic ancestry and its impact on his jewelry, was yet another gift. He purchased a camera to document his Scandinavian journey and discovered a new creative outlet. The more photos he took—he made other treks to Mexico and Cuba—the more he realized that he especially enjoyed taking pictures of people.
Hoglund’s work has graced the pages of the Cook County News-Herald, Duluth-
Superior Magazine, This Old Boat,
and numerous local tourism publications. His fun and funky photos of the bands that appear at Papa Charlie’s in Lutsen are an excellent example of his unique photographic style. His portfolio includes glamorous and edgy high-fashion shoots, which could lead a potential customer to think that Hoglund can’t capture intimate moments like a wedding or graduation. They couldn’t be more wrong—Hoglund’s works also include meaningful and memorable wedding photos, both traditional and non-traditional. “I would describe my portraiture as very romantic, sometimes ethereal.”
His graduation photos, too, are stunning portraits of young men and women transitioning to adulthood. “I’ve done a few shoots with local guys even and they found it painless. I think they actually had fun,” said Hoglund.
The ability to put people at ease may surprise the people who are more familiar with Hoglund’s “redneck liberal” persona. “I know that isn’t in keeping with what some people think of me,” said Hoglund. “But I really love working with people. I can see the beauty in everyone. I love to tell people’s stories. That’s my strength.”
Finding the beauty within for portraits is one of Hoglund’s strengths—finding the beauty in natural stones is another. Hoglund continues his original business, creating one-of-akind pieces of jewelry, using primarily regional stones—Lake Superior agates, thomsonite, greenstones. He will use mined stones, like diamonds, but prefers those that come from the lake—more gifts. “The lake mines them,” Hoglund explained. “I set many stones without doing anything to them. I don’t have to. Thelake has already done the work.”
Hoglund, however, creates unique settings for those stones. He can provide a stone from his own collection or can set a stone brought in by a customer. “I buy, I sell, I trade. I really like to work with a customer to design what they really want,” he said.
That is one of the reasons for the current disarray at his shop and gallery. He is moving his amazing collection of natural stones, the precious metals, and the accoutrements of jewelry making to the back of the gallery on Broadway Street. The move will not just open up space in the tiny jewelry store on Wisconsin to give customers a more relaxing experience, it will give Hoglund more space to create his distinctive jewelry pieces.
Ending the interview so Hoglund could finish unpacking and organizing the gallery, this reporter asked if there was anything else he would like to say to readers. Alluding to those gifts again, Hoglund said, “Life is serendipitous. Go for your dreams—you can make it happen!”
At the 14th Annual Minnesota Publishing Excellence Awards at the Nicollet Island Pavilion on November 4, Duluth-Superior Magazine
received the Minnesota Magazine & Publishing Association Gold Award for the Best Single Cover
for its December 2009 issue in magazines circulation under 60,000 category. That cover features Grand Marais’ Lily Pedersen, photography by Stephan Hoglund. Duluth-Superior Magazine
also earned a Gold for Best Issue for Pets October 2009, with photos by Mark Fitzgibbons.
Duluth-Superior Magazine
publisher Marti Buscalia said, “Congratulations DSM staff and photographers Stephan Hoglund and Mark Fitzgibbons. You earned these!”
See more of Hoglund’s award-winning
photographs like the ones above on his website
www.stephanhoglundphotography.com.
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