Photos
Snow-Fort City Build/Sledding Party
WDIO covered the event which happened on the solstice, Dec. 21. Thanks to all. #snowfortcity has suffered from the recent rains etc but all great cities have been destroyed at least once.
Mystery Photo: Three Dudes in Fake Car
A recurring source of confusion in the Mystery Photo series is whether particular images that share the stamp of the Post Card Shop in Minneapolis and the Penny Arcade in Duluth were shot in Minneapolis or Duluth. Here is another such image. (more…)
Selective Focus: Santa Claus
Instagram
19 likes, 0 comments - cascadevacationrentals on November 29, 2019: "An impending snowstorm didn’t stop Santa from arriving in Lutsen for #lightuplutsen this afternoon! The Christmas season kicks off in both #lutsen and #grandmarais with Oh Ole Night today!".
instagram.com
Select Instagram images of jolly old St. Nick. (more…)
Postcard from Tri-Tower Apartments
This postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography offers a 1970’s-era view of Tri-Tower Apartments at 220-226 N. Second Ave. E. in Duluth’s Central Hillside. The 15-story lobes were constructed in 1972 and are operated by the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Duluth, providing low-rent living space for elderly people with limited incomes. (more…)
Snow-Fort City, Day 8
I am running for Mayor of #snowfortcity. (more…)
Michael Fedo signs at Zenith Bookstore
I was lucky enough to run into Michael Fedo at Zenith Bookstore at the rescheduled Small Business Saturday on Dec. 7. How did you spend the rescheduled Small Business Saturday last weekend?
Kip Praslowicz: “Photo Walk to Work”
Photographer Kip Praslowicz documents his adventures walking to work on the Monday after the Thanksgiving weekend blizzard. When someone from out of town asks you “What was it like?” this just about covers it.
His photos are also on display at the UWS Kruk gallery until Dec. 18.
Snow-Fort City, day 7
#snowfortcity day 7. Leif Erikson Park. Best day yet and perhaps even the last. The weather’s turning subzero for a while but we had this one last great day of wet, buildable snow to top things off. (more…)
Snow-Fort City, day 6
#snowfortcity day 6. Leif Erikson Park. The fort of the tree people is the most durable and impressive structure so far. Albeit unfinished, the vision and craft of its architects (principally Morgan Pirsig) is impressive.
Selective Focus: Michelle Truax
Michelle Truax has worked at TV stations, for the Duluth News Tribune as a videographer and journalist, and is now on her own doing advertising and documentary work for her own clients. Her videos are filled with gorgeous camera work. This week in Selective Focus Michelle talks about how she started and how she got to where she is in her career.
MT: I’d consider myself a visual storyteller with an emphasis on video. Most recently, I’ve been producing promotional video content for clients in the Twin Ports area.
I really love working in a short documentary style. As a kid, Thanksgivings were spent following my mom around the kitchen with a big Sony camcorder. She wasn’t particularly fond of this tradition, but I figured the drama made for better TV. I’ve always loved capturing all the little, human moments.
(more…)
Snow-Fort City, day 4
#snowfortcity day 4. Come at me, bro. Found lots of damage this afternoon as I rolled up, so, much of the day was spent in repair mode. (more…)
Snow-Fort City, Day 3
#snowfortcity Day 3: it’s a thing now. There are 7 nodes of activity in various stages of completion, but we have successfully transformed Leif Erikson Park. (more…)
Snow-Fort City, Day 2
It was a great day to build a #snowfortcity with volunteers Stephen Bockhold, Sean MacManus, and others including an unnamed mom with two kids in tow who attested she was a #peoplesfreeskate participant last winter. One of the kids she was with, who I’ve never seen before, called me “Aquaman” unprompted on camera while KBJR-6/CBS-3 was filming: hope that makes the final cut. (more…)
Snow-fort City, Day 1
#snowfortcity
Day 1. Duluth’s Leif Erikson Park. Most of my time was taken up by Duluth News-Tribune reporters who showed up – oops got in the paper again. Otherwise slow going with cold powdery snow – spray bottles and water make the job easier so bring those. It’s sort of Day 2 since some folks built this formidable snow fort yesterday, and got the base of another one started. It’s sort of Day 3, since I built a proof-of-concept wall before the blizzard, but it blew down so I restarted it today. A huge help was Morgan Pirsig et al. who laid down a solid sled trail which helps define the space. It goes so fast we need to bank it by the stage now. Troy Rogers aka Robot Rickshaw showed up and we demonstrated proper wall-building technique for the media. A season-long project to turn the park into a citizen-led collective art installation and playground.
Selective Focus: Thanksgiving Weekend Snowout 2019
Small Business Saturday was essentially snowed out. The snow stopped falling on Sunday around noon. According to the National Weather Service, Duluth received 21.7 inches — the ninth snowiest two-day storm in the city’s history. (more…)
Snow-fort City proof of concept
I built this Snowhenge wall segment in Leif Erickson Park today in three hours with a bucket. Will it remain after a weekend of playing children, and snowstorms including 30-mph winds? Probably not. But rebuilding and rebirth are central to this season-long project where work and leisure are indistinguishable. The blizzard should die off Sunday and the upcoming week should be clear to terraform the gift of snow. (more…)
West Superior Street, Spalding Hotel, Lyceum Theatre circa 1904
This photo from Detroit Publishing Company shows Downtown Duluth at Superior Street and Fifth Avenue West circa 1904. At right is the Spalding Hotel, at left the Lyceum Theatre.
Due to the clarity of this particular image, it’s possible to zoom in for some pretty clear closeups, as illustrated below. (more…)
Selective Focus: Drinksgiving Storm of 2019
Instagram
193 likes, 1 comments - morganann987 on November 27, 2019: "It’s only 9am and he’s already been outside for two hours. I think it’s safe to say he loves the snow ❄️".
instagram.com
The city of Duluth is advising no unnecessary travel until further notice. “Plows are out in full force, but warm ground temperatures and rain have forced drivers to use chains to travel safely,” states a news release from the city’s communications office. “Please respect plow drivers and maintain a safe distance behind them.”
Meanwhile, here are a few of the sexier pics on Instagram. (more…)
Postcard of Foreign Ships in Duluth Harbor
Foreign Trade Zone #51 was approved by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board 40 years ago today — Nov. 27, 1979. The first shipment arrived on April 12, 1983. This undated postcard from Gallagher’s Studio of Photography shows ships in the Duluth Harbor near the Foreign Trade Terminal. (more…)
Five Years of Selective Focus
Five years ago, on Nov. 21, 2014, Selective Focus was launched on Perfect Duluth Day as a weekly photo-submission series. Tim White coordinated and curated the series, announcing a word or theme, then he posted submitted photos related to the theme. The first post was sparked by the word “Randomness.”
Below are some other highlights from the first iteration of Selective Focus. (more…)
Selective Focus: “Everyday Mayhem” by Kip Praslowicz
Photographer Kip Praslowicz has a show opening Thursday, November 21 at the Kruk Gallery on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Much of his work has a very matter-of-fact feeling to it, a straightforward documentation of places, people and scenes. But there is a dry sense of humor in his work, especially when taken in as a larger collection. This week we get a preview of the show, and hear how the pieces for the show were chosen.
Was there a criteria for the images selected for this show?
1) The exposure made sometime between 2010 and 2019
2) The exposure was made on color, medium format film. 6x6cm or 6x9cm (more…)
Selective Focus: Amnicon Falls State Park
Instagram
227 likes, 6 comments - zachrohweder on October 28, 2019: "The leaves are off the trees but at least there’s still some left on the ground. 🍂".
instagram.com
For this edition of “Selective Focus,” we share images from Instagram of Amnicon Falls State Park, located about 20 miles southeast of Downtown Duluth. (more…)
Views from Duluth’s Point of Rocks circa 1898
The six photos in this post are all from Detroit Publishing Company, and appear to have been shot on the same date — unless someone with a keen eye can call out evidence to the contrary. They are generally labeled as scenes from “the Bluffs,” which is an area of Duluth that later became known as the Point of Rocks. These photos appear to have been shot in a part of Point of Rocks that is known as Central Park, at the eastern-most part of the Lincoln Park neighborhood. (more…)
R.I.P. Merritt Park Recreation Center Building
This week the field house at Merritt Park joined the growing list of historic West Duluth buildings demolished in recent years. The 2,016-square foot building was constructed in 1939. (more…)