Andrés Pérez is a Mexican-American artist exploring identity and culture through photography and music. Native to Acapulco, Guerrero, he relocated to Minnesota at the age of 18. He is self-taught in every medium, beginning his career with graphic design and eventually pivoting into photography. He has been the recipient of the GroundWork Fellowship with Forecast Public Art, the Upstream Fellowship, and has won an AIGA Design Show Award. He has participated in gallery showings at Indigenous Roots in St. Paul, MN, and Augsburg Galleries in Minneapolis, MN. Andrés is currently focusing on photography and is active in Serpentina Arts and the Mixto Art Collective.

https://aperezshoots.com/

Arboretum Landscape Gardener Richard DeVries manages maple syrup production at the Arboretum, including about 300 trees with tubing systems that use gravity to draw the sap from the trees. DeVries has many duties in winter, including plotting and taking care of the ski and snowshoe trails. Warm days and freezing nights provide the perfect conditions for collecting sap from maple trees, which can be boiled down into syrup. The Arboretum Gift & Garden Store sells maple syrup that is made in the sugaring house on the Arb grounds.

Nemuel Sereti is the son of an immigrant mother. He is an adventure photographer and visual artist based in Minneapolis but available for hire worldwide. Fueled by an innate passion for storytelling through visual arts, he has traveled to many places capturing the beauty of the natural world encompassed by amazing people he has had the privilege to meet. Nemuel specializes in landscape and portrait photography—as well as slowly but steadily improving his expertise for videography as a tool for enhancing his storytelling skills.

https://kingnemuelvisuals.com/

The experience of connecting with nature as a Black and First-Generation Immigrant in Minnesota was something that I was taught to shun while growing up here in my teenage years until now despite spending my early formative years in Kenya being one with nature. My purpose with the images is to show the reconnection to nature that most people of my background end up experiencing once they reach a certain age. The photos range from seeing ice stacks on the shores of Lake Superior due to cold temperatures, to experiencing snow for the first time in your life, to the harsh reality of winter, and to longing for “home.” The people in these photos are mainly friends and some family. Locations vary from Northern Minnesota to the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area.

Sharolyn Hagen is a photographer based in Minneapolis, MN. With over 20 years experience freelancing around the Twin Cities, she has a keen eye & unique ability of putting her subjects at ease. Whether an event or portrait session, she creates genuine connections that evoke emotional responses in her images. While tech school gave her a strong platform, she believes photography is a fascinating lifelong learning process and feels like she’s finally honing in on her craft.

https://www.sbhphotography.com/

Pictures 1-3: Visitors look on at snow sculptures near the river.

Pictures 4-6: Family sledding at the hill at Phelps Park, Mpls, MN. Mileesha Smith and her sons Mister & Sir. This family has spent countless hours helping maintain George Floyd Square, so it was nice to have them let loose and have some fun nearby & create fun memories to balance out some of the trauma they’ve experienced in that neighborhood.

Awa Mally is a Togolese photographer based in Minneapolis, MN. Born in Togo, she immigrated with her family to Minnesota in 2003. Always having an interest in arts and culture, she was involved in many youth programs growing up though not having much support. Taking her first art opportunity outside of school at 16 by joining the Walker Art Center’s teen arts program, she was inspired to take on her passion. In 2016 she began photographing for a social justice group she started with her peers and has been pursuing photography since. As a self-taught photographer, she’s accomplished many things such as working for local organizations like the Science Museum, Walker Art Center, and UndocuBlack; a feature in Vice Magazine; a single cover for global musician Afro B; and the recent installation of her first billboard for It’s The People 2021. Awa’s ultimate goal in life is to create programs for youth and marginalized people to gain more access to arts and technology, and to build bridges between cultures and communities.

https://awamally.com/

Tyler Anderson is a lifestyle, landscape, and portrait photographer based in Lanesboro, MN. He has been interested in photography for as long as he can remember. From the days when his mom handed him her Kodak with a roll of 35mm film to the present day working with a digital camera, photography has always played an important part in his life. Relocating with his wife and two children in 2014 to Lanesboro from Minneapolis gave him the opportunity to fully exercise his passion of landscape and nature photography. He feels a strong connection to the Driftless Region, and his photography aims to show its unique natural beauty. Tyler is a published photographer, and his photos have been featured in 507 Magazine (Rochester, MN), The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, MN Preservationist Magazine, Minnesota Public Radio, Midwest Living Magazine, and Lavender Magazine, among others. Tyler’s work has been chosen for publication in a book, Memory Makers – A JJ Community and Lexar Collaboration Featuring 75 of Instagram’s Best Photographers c. 2017. With camera in hand, you’ll often find him on one of the numerous gravel roads of the driftless chasing light for that perfect shot.

The driftless area of Southeast Minnesota has some of the best trout fly fishing stream in the country. My goal for the winter shoot is to get out with one of the outfitters down here to showcase how they care for and celebrate our unique natural landscape while fly fishing in the middle of winter.

Uche Iroegbu is a Twin Cities–based photographer, artist, and dad of three lovely daughters. Photography is his way to connect with people, his society, his environment, and to himself.

https://www.uiphotographic.com/

Care for place to me means the various people that work to maintain the parks and spaces we use. My goal is to identify and photograph these folks for the project. I also aim to capture images of people utilizing these spaces for different winter activities with an emphasis on diversity. In a nutshell, I would say that my aim for this project is to showcase the diversity of activities that are had in MN parks and trails, the diversity of the people that use them, and the people that care for and maintain them.