Artist's Statement:

The focus of my main body of work involves the photographic exploration of the unintentional icons that help define the landscape and, by definition, the inhabitants of the agriculturally-impacted northern plains of western Minnesota and the eastern North Dakota. This reticent landscape, devoid of the natural grandiosity preferred by the mass of destination seekers, is more often travelled through than intentionally visited. At first glance it looks dull, mundane. Those were my very thoughts upon arriving more than a decade ago. However, during my time here, I have gained an intense appreciation of, and affection for, the unique environmental elements – field, shelter belts, crop rows, flat horizons, farmsteads, sky, gravel roadways, and silence - that give this landscape it’s unique identity.

In keeping with the organized aesthetic of the land, my photography is intentionally straightforward. As form and texture, above color, are the defining characteristics, I am working exclusively in black and white. There are no travel guides, no maps, to guide me towards the subjects of my study, so I must find them on my own. That necessitates many hours and many miles, exploring back roads minimally, or not at all, maintained. That time is not wasted, however, as it allows me the opportunity to get in tune with the pastoral simplicity of the land, to leave behind the rigors of daily life; a requisite necessary to truly see what lies before me.

VITAE

2010 B&W Magazine, Portfolio Issue
2010 Mpls. Photo Center, jurored landscape exhibit, April 23 - June 13.
2010 Lenswork magazine, issue #87. Portfolio and interview.
2010 Taube Museum of Art, Triple Exposure, group exhibit. Summer 2010
2010 Traveling solo exhibit, The Unapologetic Landscape, 10 galleries/museums in ND. Begins Aug. 5, 2010.
2010 Juror for annual art exhibit for graduate and undergraduate art students at Univ. of North Dakota.
2009 North Dakota State Capital, solo exhibit
2009 North Dakota Museum of Art, The Unapologetic Landscape, solo exhibit
2009 Center for Fine Art Photography, Art in Nature, group exhibit
2009 Shutterbug Magazine, April, review of work
2008 International Photography Awards, 2 honorable mentions
2008 Lenswork magazine, issue #79. Year-end gallery
2008 North Dakota Council on the Arts professional development grant
2008 File Magazine, publication of three works
2007 International Photography Awards, 3 honorable mentions
2006 B&W Magazine, Portfolio Issue
1998 Under the Whelming Tide, book by the North Dakota Museum of Art
1998 North Dakota Museum of Art, group exhibit

Contact me:
Chuck Kimmerle
1623 1st Ave N
Grand Forks, ND 58203
chuck@chuckkimmerle.com