When I was editor of the Walker Reader, I was more or less a one-man newsroom. I got invaluable help from the Walker’s top-notch designers and technologists, amazing photos from the staff photographer (the excellent Bobby Rogers, most recently), and contributions from staff, but plenty of times I had to go it alone. Thanks to a great little camera, the Fujifilm X10, I was able to get some strong photos to illustrate many of my pieces—from shots at an outdoor artist residency by ROLU to many photos of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, photos of local musicians (and one not so great, but still kind of awesome photo of Sonic Youth), and shots of works in the galleries.
Some of the most noteworthy—as I noticed this week when Minneapolis-based Iranian artist Siah Armajani passed—have made it far beyond the Walker’s walls, to the pages of the New York Times, online news stories by Artnet, and beyond. Here are a few recent examples, from Armajani to the late, internet-famous Lil Bub. While I’m not trained as a photographer, I’ve enjoyed getting out and capturing imagery to add something special to my stories.
Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, by Siah Armajani. Photo: Paul Schmelzer
“Siah Armajani, Sculptor of Communal Spaces, Dies at 81,” Holland Cotter, New York Times, Sept. 3, 2020
Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, by Siah Armajani. Photo: Paul Schmelzer
“How Siah Armanjani’s Sculptures Confound and Connect us to ‘Home,’” Camile Lefevre, Midwest Home, Sept. 11, 2018.
“Museums Shut Doors as Midwest Freezes,” Annie Armstrong, ARTnews, Jan. 31, 2019.
Lil Bub at the original Internet Cat Video Festival. Photo: Paul Schmelzer