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Portraits of Home
MNPA
Members Collaborate
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By Alyssa Schafer
When people think
of extreme poverty and inadequate housing, most picture a
dilapidated urban block. But in reality, this lack of affordable housing is
ubiquitous.
The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund (GMHF) is working to change this misconception
through its photography exhibition, Portraits of Home: Families in Search
of Shelter in
Greater Minnesota.
This project came about as a way for GMHF to draw attention to the inadequate
living conditions of many communities in Greater Minnesota. GMHF wokred with
Jack
Becker of Forecast Public Art Works to pull together a group of photojournalists
to work
on the project.
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Becker
in turn contacted Brian
Peterson, a staff photographer at the Star Tribune for
19 years, about the possibility of pulling together a group of photojournalists
to document the issues related to affordable housing. |
Photographers
from all over the state submitted portfolios. GMHF selected
Ben Garvin, Carlos Gonzalez, Stormi Greener, Eric Hylden, Brian Peterson and
Cathy ten Broke. Of them, Garvin, Gonzalez, Hylden and Peterson are Minnesota
News Photographers Association members.
Carlos
Gonzalez, a California native and graduate of San Jose State University,
took on the project because he saw it as an opportunity to do something
unique and challenging outside of his work at the Star Tribune.
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According to Gonzalez, choosing subjects for the project was lengthy process.
He said making good contacts took a lot of research and many phone calls. It
was well over a month before he could begin shooting.
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Ben
Garvin of the Pioneer Press in St. Paul found his subjects through
various social service agencies that directed him to small towns and
rural areas that have historically been poor. Garvin said he struggled
to approach subjects delicately. “It was a constant challenge
to explain to subjects that I was essentially photographing them because
they were poor,” Garvin said. “There was more to it, and
I explained the context, but nonetheless it was a challenge.”
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"
I was
surprised that many were willing to open their lives up to us during a very
difficult time," said Peterson. "The Millers of Mankato that I photographed
opened
their lives completely. They were working very hard to keep pace with raising
their
children and paying the bills.”
The photographers hope this project will shed light on widespread poverty and
homelessness-- social problems that have been overlooked by the general public
for years. “It was interesting that this is Greater Minnesota, not just
a problem in the
cities,” Gonzalez said.
For Julie Delliquanti, the exhibition’s coordinator, the goal of Portraits
of Home is to
inform and motivate Minnesotans. “Although our state is recognized nationally
as a
leader in our efforts to provide affordable housing opportunities, low and moderate
income citizens still find housing to be too costly as soaring rents and home
prices
far outpace modest increases in household income,” said Delliquanti.
Delliquanti said, according
to the Wilder Research Center (2003 statistics), there are
approximately 20,000 homeless or precariously housed Minnesotans. Of those, 39
percent are children and youth. The number of homeless children tripled between
1991 and 2003.
“ I hope that the exhibit will reach the people who can make a difference
and encourage people to get involved in the issue of affordable housing,” Peterson
said. “We will never know how many people give up a meal to help pay the
rent.”
The exhibition will travel to Minneapolis, St. Paul, Hibbing, Duluth, Grand Rapids,
Grand Forks, New York Mills, Owatonna, Marshall and Moorhead.
Watch
for additional exhibits at: http://www.gmhf.com/portraits/schedule.htm |
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EXHIBIT
SCHEDULE |
CURRENT
EXHIBITS
•
New
York Mills,
MN
(September 5 – October 14, 2006)
New York Mills Regional Cultural Center
24 North Main Avenue
New York Mills
• Owatonna,
MN
(September 3 - October 1, 2006)
Owatonna Arts Center
435 Garden View Lane
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UP
COMING EXHIBITS
• Marshall, MN
(October 3 - November 3, 2006)
Southwest Minnesota State University
•
Moorhead,
MN
(November 6 - November 29,
2006)
Minnesota State University Moorhead
Art Gallery, Center for the Arts
1104 7th Avenue South
Northfield, MN
November
7 - December 31, 2006
St. Olaf College
• Moorhead, MN
(January 8 - February 11, 2007)
Concordia College
901 8th St. South
WInona,
MN
January 10 - March 2, 2007
Winona State University
• Marshall, MN
(March 13 – April 14, 2007)
Marshall Area Fine Arts Council Art Center
313 West Main St.
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Carlos
Gonzalez
Hutchinson, Minnesota
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Ben
Garvin
Henriette, Minnesota
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Brian
Peterson
Mankato, Minnesota
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