Feb. 5 Readings • Ruminations • Genres Aplenty

I simply cannot go on until I mention Wing Young Huie. This wonderful artist from Duluth shared profound images with the Junior High students at the Young Writers' Conference today at the Weisman Art Museum.

This man profoundly brought the core of the multigenre paper to brilliant life.

Juxtaposing image with quotes by the subjects in the pictures, he told fascinating stories about our world, our cities, our humanity and our cultures. In placing his art throughout the city for anyone to see, he created an open dialogue about what it means to truly be alive in our world.

I live near Frogtown and I know Sam lives in Frogtown and the stereotypes and attitudes that swirl through the air about that area of St. Paul are varied and usually quite negative. What Huie was able to do in his artwork - which involved poignant and powerful images of Frogtown residents - was expand "our knowing beyond factual exposition to include narrative thinking and emotional content" (Romano p. 131).

As Huie spoke about his work and the context from which the images sprang, you become enveloped in the photo. Although they were taken just blocks away from my house, I felt like there were worlds exposed that I had never seen before, never appreciated as much.

The city can be and ugly place. Waiting at bus stops I tire of the litter, McDonald's trash, depressed faces, dirty-snowy streets...but in these photos, you were able to stop and look at the people. The beautiful people. We make up our world. We are beautiful. It was incredible to look at Midway and other spots that I have lived around for the last decade in such a different light.

He then tied all of this into looking at each other in different lights. To never assume we know everything about someone based on their outside appearance. He talked about how he is judged as a foreigner - even though he was born and raised in Duluth,MN.

We can all relate to this. I am judged as a very young man. One older tour guide at the Walker today told me that I looked like a "12-year-old." It is difficult and altogether odd in our ageist society that I would be taken less seriously because I look young. It sounds like a pathetic hardship in retrospect but it is part of what Huie was talking about.

I think utilizing his work in conjunction with any multigenre works we will do in our classrooms is an excellent way to tie into the photography aspect Romano is passionate about. Even that simple photo of his father behind the bar at the bowling alley added a ton (for me) to his story about his father. I go back to that photo when he later receives the letter from his 83-year-old mother who pleads with him to understand his father's unspoken love.

A picture says a thousand words and when you help give it context, or let the persons in the picture speak their piece, well, I think the picture can talk forever.

[The picture I have added here is a one from Huie's project "9 Months in America" in which he was commissioned to travel the US and snap photos of whatever struck him. This one was at a demolition derby in which Huie noticed the one Asian man (who had consequently lived in that southern town for 15 years). Huie noted that he felt like the man had been "photo-shopped" into the picture and questioned whether that's what people thought about him. I encourage you to look at more of his work. He has an outside installation coming in 2010 on University Ave. so hopefully we can all take our classes there on a field trip!]