"Where is Brad Zellar?" you might ask, as his hiatus from The Rake has created quite a void. Happily, he's been busy promoting his new book, Suburban World: The Norling Photos, from Borealis Books.
Zellar discovered Irwin Norling in 2002, when he unearthed Norling's neglected negatives from the Bloomington Historical Society archives. Struck by the breadth and depth of the subject matter — everything from family portraits, Shriners, and donkey baseball games, to car crashes, drug busts, and murder scenes — and by the "astonishing and remarkably comprehensive record of life in one American community," Zellar unknowingly began his quest to compile his first book. The result is an extraordinary photo essay book featuring Bloomington, MN, from the late 1940s through the '70s — and the beautiful irony of a veteran journalist exposing an amateur photographer who expertly documented an era.
Brad Zellar is an accomplished journalist, a brilliant writer, and an incredible human being. Some might call him a "character" even. And they wouldn't be wrong. So, here we have a great character, and a great storyteller, who happens to run into another character — or at least his work — and gets blown away by it. Why? Probably because he's just as much a character, because he's just a good a storyteller, and because he has a similarly bleak underbelly. If you've been following Zellar's Yo, Ivanhoe! blog, you should know that underbelly quite well by now.
Norling wasn't your typical photographer. He was just a guy — a guy who took photos, a guy who was clearly obsessed with documenting life in some form, and a guy who sat for hours at his police radio waiting for calls to come in so he could run out and photograph the latest accident, the latest murder scene, or any other major event, no matter how bleak.
Seems to me he and Zellar would have made a mighty pair.
That said, the book itself is quite an accomplishment. While it looks like your typical coffee table book at first glance — something you can impress your guests with perhaps, but that might serve no purpose beyond that — this is certainly not the case. Suburban World: The Norling Photos will keep you enthralled from start to finish.
The forward, written by professional photographer Alec Soth, presents a most honest and provocative perspective on the art of photography. "Most great pictures aren't about artistry," writes Soth, as he goes on to explain how professional photographers have to get over themselves and avoid pretense in order to take good photos. In the end, his argument extols the virtues of amateur photography — a most controversial idea coming from a professional photographer.
Following Soth's forward, Zellar steps in with his master story-telling skills. But what story is he telling? Norling's? His own? Bloomington's? All of the above. Zellar weaves together a story that takes us across generations and paints a picture of the picture of the picture, and more. And, frankly, it's engaging at every level. Framed in his own story of discovery, Zellar tells us Norling's story, and shares with us a fuller picture of Bloomington than Norling's photos alone could ever tell.
And then come the photos. Beginning with his first accident photo in 1941 and ending with the opening of the Interstate Highway 35W (which is actually one of very few photos placed out of chronological sequence), the photos document the development of a city and its people over a twenty year span. The beauty, however, is in the juxtaposition of sweet everyday images and grotesque realities — the local hardware store followed by an autopsy photo, a tea-pouring housewife followed by a fatal accident, a wedding followed by a BPO training and an electrocution. While it may seem an odd mix of photos, the collection offers an unusually panoptic glimpse at the past. And the photos of accidents and violence lend a telling air of disrupted placidity — the clash of old and new, the perils of change, and the backlash of progress.
You don't need to be Bloomington obsessed — or Zellar obsessed, for that matter — to enjoy this one. And to top it off, the Minnesota Historical Society is kicking off the book release with an exhibit featuring Norling's photos and a recreation of his darkroom. Don't miss out.
Reception and book signing on April 1, from 5 to 8 p.m.; author presentation on April 8th at 7 p.m.; Minnesota History Center.
April 9, at 7:30 p.m., Richfield Borders Books and Music.
April 16th at 7:30 p.m., Magers & Quinn Booksellers.