I have been making photographs since 1969. In high school I wanted to be a commercial artist but my school did not offer guidance in this area so I became an engineer and photography became my tool for self-expression. Early on, I tried to make photographs that looked like paintings in the hope of being accepted as an artist. I learned the rules of composition and looked at work by the masters; Weston, Strand and Adams. They photographed magnificent places and people and then produced technically perfect prints. Later, I discovered Winogrand, Cartier-Bresson and Frank; photographers of ordinary people and places. Their work was done on the streets, quickly and casually but with careful consideration for the descriptive quality inherent to the medium. Much later, I discovered VanDerZee, Parks and DeCarava; black photographers working in all the styles the medium offers while consistently documenting the lives of black people.
education
Pangea BRIDGES Collaboration - Pangea World Theater, Minneapolis, MN - 2004
Community Cultural Development workshop - Intermedia Arts & the Center for the Study of Art & Community - 2002
Winogrand Game of Photography - Tuscon Center for Creative Photography - 2001
Seminar: Roy DeCarava - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 1999
Seminar: Dawoud Bey - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 1995
Photography - Country Photography Workshops - Charles Harbutt - 1976
B&W Print - Country Photography Workshops - David Vestal - 1975
portfolio review by Ted Hartwell, Curator of Photography Minneapolis Institute of Arts
Seminar: Chester Higgins Jr. - Afro American Cultural Arts Center, Minneapolis - 1975
Photography Front to Back - Minneapolis School of Art - Dick Coffey - 1974
Seminar: Ann Wilkes Tucker - College of St Catherine – 1974
Streetscapes - Country Photography Workshops - Garry Winogrand - 1973
Black & White Printing - Hamline University - Frederick Sommer - 1973
Nudes - Minneapolis School of Art - Ron Seichrist - 1970
Apostle Islands Photography Workshops - George Gamsby - 1969
Intro to Photography - St Paul Arts & Science Center - Gary Hallman - 1968
BSEE Howard University School of Engineering & Architecture - 1967
Salisbury High School in Salisbury, MD - 1962
employment
working as an independent photographer writer projectionist since 2005
VocalEssence - Witness Artist in Residence - 2004
Choice of Weapons – residency at Harvest Prep School - 2004
The 3rd Revolution Is Digital - SouthWest State University, Marshall, MN - 2003
35mm Photography - Minnesota Center of Photography Mentor Program - 2002
Developing Point of View - Perpich Center for the Arts - 2001
Photographing Your Street - Homewood Community Arts Festival - 2000
Fine Art Photographer - 2000
Jazz music programmer - KFAI FM, Minneapolis - 1995
Park Avenue Foundation - Executive Director - 1997 to 1999
Honeywell Inc - Sales Engineer, Sales Manager, Market Manager - 1976 to 1997
Intro to 35mm Photography - Minneapolis YMCA – 1977
Travel Photography - Hotel Don Pepe’, Malaga, Spain – 1976
35mm Camera Technique - Edina Creative Learning Center – 1976
Darkroom Techniques - Martin Luther King Center, St Paul, MN - 1976
PAKO Corporation - Photographic Product Development Engineer - 1974 to 1976
Intro to Photography - St Paul YMCA - 1971
Rosemount Engineering - Marketing Engineer - 1970 to 1974
Univac Federal Systems Division - Application Engineer - 1967 to 1970
exhibitions
RECLAIMING: Art Bodega & PopUp - NEW RULES - 2017
TEN PHOTOGRAPHERS - CIRCA Gallery - 2016
DISTURBANCEs - Homewood Studios Gallery - 2016
a drive-by showing - in the windows at 800 W. Broadway Ave - 2016
Fathers & Daughters - UROC Gallery - 2015
on the wall at K's Grocery & Deli - since 2015
MadeHere - Minneapolis Skyway - 2015
The Transparent Self - Homewood Studios - 2013
HIEROGLYPHICs - Minnesota Center for Book Arts Gallery - 2012
BLACK I’s - Obsidian Art Gallery at Pillsbury House - 2012
Selections from collections - Urban Homeworks Office Gallery - 2011
Living My Mother’s Reality - Capri Theater Gallery - 2010
Soul On Ice - the Soap Factory - 2008
Beyond the Colored Museum - Macalester College Gallery - 2008
Coming of Age: the Journey - MN Museum of American Art - 2008
HOME: Wiesman Art Museum - Minneapolis - 2006
CHOREOGRAPHIC - Minnesota Center for Photography - 2006
International Photography Festival - Pingyao, China - 2006
Pictures from a Trip - Harry M. Drake Gallery - 2006
Rosalux Gallery - Minneapolis - 2006
Africa, Daily Life - Mira Gallery - Minneapolis - 2006
San Francisco Museum of the African Diasporia - 2005
Home Sweet Home Again - Intermedia Arts - 2005
Home Is Where the Heart Is - Grain Belt Brewery Gallery - 2005
Living with Light - Homewood Studios - 2005
AfroFuturism - Soap Factory - Minneapolis - 2005
Art of Democracy - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 2004
IDS Series - Art in the Mayor’s at City Hall - Minneapolis, MN - 2004
Living My Mother's Reality - Outsiders & Others Gallery - 2004
FOUR WOMEN: Freedom, Identity & Responsibility - Katherine E. Nash Gallery - 2003
FOUR WOMEN: Freedom, Identity & Responsibility - Homewood Studios - 2003
“the PLYMOUTH AVENUE project” - Homewood Studios Gallery - 2003
Visible Fringe Festival - 2003
MNARTISTS.org, “5 Minutes of Fame” - Walker Arts Center - 2003
Gallery 96 Art Center, “Expressions in Diversity” - 2002
"Speaking Truths" - Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN - 2002
Babylon Café - Minneapolis, MN - 2002
Minnesota State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition - 2002
Minnesota Center for Photography - Minneapolis, MN - 2002
Minnetonka Center for the Arts - 2001
One Foot Show - Minneapolis Institute of Arts - 2000
Twenty Twenty - Cultural Center of Minnesota - 1994
1976 Black Photographers Annual, Moscow - 1978
Looking Backward, Moving Forward - Homewood Studios Gallery - 2000
1976 Black Photographers Annual - Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC - 1977
East Central Minnesota Art Exhibition - 1976 1976
Black Photographers Annual, Studio Museum of Harlem - 1976
Twenty Months - Minneapolis Afro-American Cultural Arts Center - 1975
IDS Series - Oxmans Gallery, Minneapolis - 1975
Waylusing State Park - Century Camera, Minneapolis - 1974
Players in the Band - Darkroom Gallery, Minneapolis - 1974
Uptown Art Fair - Minneapolis - 1973
IDS - Edythe Bush Theatre, St Paul - 1972
IDS - Minneapolis Public Library - 1971
grants
MN State Arts Board Community Arts Grant with NorthPoint - 2016
MN State Arts Board Arts Activity Grant with Hennepin County Library - 2016
West Broadway Business Coalition Play on Penn - 2014
Northern Spark Performance Grant - 2014
Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant - 2012
Minnesota Center for Book Arts Fellowship - 2011
Family Housing Fund, Home Sweet Home Again Grant - 2004
Peace Foundation, Living in Jordan Grant - 2004
Pangea World Theater, Bridges Program Grant - 2003
McKnight Photography Fellowship - 2002
City of Minneapolis City Arts Grant 2002 St Paul Chamber of Commerce - 1975
Eastman Kodak - 1974 Grain Belt Brewery - 1973
publications
DISTURBANCEs - a book of photographs & poems
Surface Tensions -a book of photographs & poems
under the influence of Owuo Atwedee
NORTHSIDE Mondays
News As Abstract Truth - dvd, collaboration poet & musicians
Social Landscapes - monthly photojournals
Camera 35 Lightworks Ebony Magazine American Bicycler Magazine American Lutheran Black Photographers Annual, Vol 3, 1976 Favorite Places in Minneapolis St Paul Dispatch Newspaper Minneapolis Star/Tribune Newspaper Insight News Park Ave HARK Newspaper Plymouth Avenue project postcards NorthSide Arts Collective billboard & poster
collections
Minnesota Museum of American Art - 2008
Harry M. Drake Gallery - 2006
Homewood Studios Archives - 2004
projected image performances
CITIZEN w/Frank Theatre - Intermedia Arts - 2017
Say Her Name(w/Sha Cage) - Intermedia Arts - 2016
12 minutes from DISTURBANCEs - Patrick's Cabaret, Minneapolis - 2015
15 + 15 = 15 at Pillsbury House LateNight Series - 2015
Beyond the LOOP - Play on Penn PopUp, Penn & Lowry Ave Minneapolis - 2014
Beyond the LOOP - Northern Spark Festival, Hennepin Ave Bridge Minneapolis - 2014
Choosing YOUR Weapons - Hennepin Country Libraries - 2013
The Failure Show - Salon Saloon at Bryant Lake Bowl - 2013
Surface Tensions - Old Arizona Theater - 2012
Ways of Knowing - University of Minnesota - 2011
Front Porch Series - Bedlam Theater - 2010
RADIO - Pillsbury House Theater LateNight Series - 2009
Layer(s) - Intermedia Arts - 2008
of animals - 9x22 at Bryant Lake Bowl - 2008
Velvet BeBop & Kente Cloth - Center for Independent Artists - 2008
A Disease Called Freedom - Avalon Theater - 2007
African American Queen for a Day - MNArtists Live at Walker Art Center - 2006
Cactus in the Desert - Varsity Theater - 2005
Trajectory - Metro State College & Rendezvous Dance Studio - 2005
2704: Seven Generations into the Future - Capri Theater - 2004
The EDGE Series - Hopkins Center for the Arts - 2004
2704: Seven Generations into the Future - Pillsbury House LateNight Series - 2004
LIVING at the Intersections of our Stories - Rag & Bone Books - 2004
Art & Spirit Matters - Center For Independent Artists - Minneapolis - 2003
Emancipation Stories - Paramount Art Center - St Cloud, MN - 2003
PLYMOUTH AVENUE project - Homewood Studios, Minneapolis, MN - 2003
American Dreams with Afrika's Ensemble - Fringe Festival Minneapolis, MN - 2002
Stigmatism - Intermedia Arts, Minneapolis, MN - 2001
memberships
Board of Directors Juxtaposition Arts - 2005
Institute for Community Cultural Development - Intermedia Arts - 2002
Board of Directors KFAI Community Radio - 2002
Metropolitan Regional Arts Council - grant review team – 2000
Walker Arts Center - 2000
En Foco - 2000
Board of Directors Minnesota Center for Photography – 1999
Minnesota Center of Photography - 1999
Minneapolis Arts Commission – 1999
Board of Directors J Train Youth Jazz Education - 1999
West of Penn Community Development Group - 1998
Hallie Q. Brown Camera Club - 1970