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Brandenburg headlines Buffalo Days

By Lori Ehde
The highlight of Luverne's Buffalo Day's celebration this year will be photographer Jim Brandenburg's "Chased by the Light" exhibit at the Carnegie Cultural Center.

The artist said Tuesday he's looking forward to coming home for the event.

"It's hometown. It's like family," he said of the upcoming weekend.

He said the exhibit and book signing all tie in with the greater goals set out when the Brandenburg Gallery was established.

"The long-range plan was that I would contribute whatever I had to offer to raise awareness of the prairie and the landscape around the Mounds."

He said he wants to give back to his community for what it's done for him.

"The support the community has given me is extremely humbling and makes me feel very proud of Luverne," he said.

Brandenburg grew up in Luverne and began his career as a natural history photographer and film maker while majoring in studio art at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.

In 1978, he became a contract photographer for National Geographic and has since worked on numerous projects, which have earned him national and international recognition.

In a recent undertaking, he set out to photograph the natural world near his home in Ely. He challenged himself to take only photograph per day for 90 days between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice.

"ÉThere would be no second exposure, no second chance. My work would be stripped to the bones, bringing together whatever photographic and woods skills I have," Brandenburg wrote of the experience.

"I was anxious to begin ... conscious that no matter how earthbound the substance was, its essence was fleeting ... elusive to capture ... there would be but a single chance to capture it... My shutter opened then closed... My journey began."

The resulting feature article, "The Northwoods Journal," in National Geographic's November 1997 issue was, according to editor William Allen, "the most photographs the magazine has ever published in one feature in it's entire history."

Brandenburg's 1998 book, "Chased by the Light," elaborates on his experiences during those 90 days.

Photographs from the book will be featured at the Carnegie Cultural Center on North Freeman Avenue in Luverne through June and July.

Brandenburg will be in town for Buffalo Days for a book signing and visit at the Brandenburg Gallery on Main Street from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 2.

He will also be at the Carnegie Cultural Center that day from 3 to 5 p.m. for a book signing and opening reception.

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