Bader Alabkal of Kuwait takes a trip to Duluth with his pals Qutiba bin Yahya AlHashemi and Yousef AlMunaies. The first stop is Minneapolis; they hit Duluth after the 5-minute mark.
As often happens, the tidbit that Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world gets tossed around with some uncertainty. For clarity we note it is considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area.
The Duluth Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in locating a missing person. Julie Marie Huntington was last seen on the 300 block of South Lake Avenue in Duluth’s Canal Park district on Sept. 1 at approximately 7 p.m. She is described as a 34-year-old Caucasian female, 5-foot 7-inches tall, 300 lbs., blue eyes and blonde hair. Huntington was last seen wearing a grey tank top, black hooded sweatshirt and black leggings. The DPD would like to check the health and welfare of Huntington along with getting her home. Anyone who knows of her whereabouts is asked to contact the Duluth Police Department by calling 911.
Presenting yet another “Dutch Kid” pennant postcard, similar to “Mit Best Wishes from Duluth,” “Vilkome to our city of Duluth” and “Iff you vill come to Duluth ve vill lock up all de cops.” This one was mailed from Duluth to Minneapolis on Aug. 20, 1913. Translating the written message on the back will win someone the Internet championship of the day.
Most of us emerge from infantile amnesia around the age of three. Until then our memories are catch and release. After that some stick, some don’t, until, alas, we come full circle. Unsettlingly, what we do recall is not the original event, but our last memory of that event, not something etched in stone or set in amber, but fuzzing at the edges and swapping facts like stage props, our solo game of “Telephone” played across time.
My first memory, as far as I can remember, is being held on my mother’s hip as she stood in the water at a public beach on the south shore of Lake Superior. I was looking down her one-piece suit at her breasts. Having never been suckled, this may have seemed a novel and compelling sight. Something worth remembering.
Decades fly by and summers pass like weekends. But between the ages of three and thirteen time was much-expanded. Time lost, but if the trigger’s found it’s not for sure forgotten.
My family moved when I finished kindergarten so there’s a clear line defining before and after. Subtract my amnesiac beginnings and it hardly seems possible a home could hold so much. Here we lived in a frame house with a dirt cellar, damp and spidery. There was a big garden, a half a dozen apple trees and a play house near the garage. This was the center of a universe measured in a few city blocks. Occasionally the quiet would be broken by distant explosions at the Dupont plant, where, I was told, they were testing dynamite.
Bryan Hansel lives in Grand Marais, working as a photographer and educator. His photos have been published in many national magazines including National Geographic, and his classes take students to sites in the region and across the country to National Parks.
B.H.: I could say I developed my style from years of practice starting with three years of black & white photography in high school — I graduated in 1989. But, that’s not really how I came to do what I do. About ten or so years ago, I decided I needed to make my photos eye-catching and worked toward a style that accomplished that. Then about six years ago while reading a book on haiku I had an “aha” moment. I was reading about juxtaposition in poetry and it occurred to me I could do the same thing with photography. After messing around with the approach, I started teaching it at my photography workshops. Basically, it’s all about using simplicity to create flow and relationships in an image. Now I approach all my photos that way.
