Summer Photography Workshop at MDC

By Mai Vang, Curator

The "Grace" exhibit inspired me to host 3-Day sessions of Beginners and Intermediate workshops. Eric Enstrom from lil' ol' Bovey took this famous photograph.

Photograph taken by Eric Enstrom of Charles Wilden in 1918.

I cannot believe how many functions of a camera there are! Pete Davis, a professor from Hibbing Community College and Joe Edman, a photographer taught the two sessions. Below are some photographs I took after learning some techniques. Enjoy! (P.s. We would love to see your photographs from MDC too!)

 

The Class. Teachers, Pete Davis, third from left and Joe Edman, third from right.

 

My attempt at photography. Pond at MDC.

 

We learned the Rule of Thirds. When your

subject is in 1/3 of the frame, the photograph is more pleasing to the eyes.

 

The CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.) truck. It actually runs and 

was recently in the Hibbing Parade!

 

One of the greatest features of our grounds are the

historical buildings and structures.

Here are replica outdoor cooking with a beautiful water pot.

 

Using the 'macro' on the camera always gives

photographs an artistic perspective.

Mystery Solved

By Mai Vang, Curator

Backlogs of unsolved mysteries sits down in collection for years and years, to no one's fault. As any museum curator/administrator/collections manager knows, that is the nature of the beast.

When I first came on staff, one of the first emails I received was from the St. Louis County Historical Society's collections manager.When the Minnesota Discovery Center, formerly Iron Range Interpretative Center, first started we borrowed some Stuntz items from them... 28 years ago. George Stuntz was a government surveyor who discovered the Vermilion Range iron ore deposits and helped develop Duluth and St. Louis County.

“I came in 1852. I saw the advantage of (Minnesota Point) as clearly then as I do now. On finishing the survey for the government, I went away to make a report, and then returned the next spring and came for good. I saw surely knew then as I do now that this was the heart of the continent commercially, and so I drove my stakes.” -George Stuntz

A couple of weeks ago, I met with staff members from the St. Louis Historical Society and finally returned the items. This is a collection manager and curator's dream. Paperwork and artifacts are back to where they belong and we can continue our jobs in solving more collections mysteries.