Ordinarily Beautiful

Photographer James Henkel, a McKnight fellow, captures the simplicity in his surroundings

Photographer James Henkel cut apart numerous books with a band saw then rearranged or stacked the pieces for one of his more renowned collections.

Image credit: Photo courtesy James Henkel

Recommended by the Editor

Making the Invisible Visible

Hitting All the Right Notes

By: Molly Burke

Editor’s note: The McKnight Foundation has a long tradition of awarding artists grants in order to give them greater creative freedom. The foundation announced earlier this year that they were giving 38 $25,000 grants to artists to help further their work. Writers for metromag.com will introduce readers to some of those artists all week. This is the third article in the series.

Whether working in the quiet of his studio, or out in the bustle of a foreign city, photographer James Henkel says he sets out to find beauty in the ordinary. From his portfolio of Paris to his photos of everyday objects, it’s clear he is capable of doing just that.

Henkel, who spends most of his time in his Minnesota studio, uses everyday objects such as books, bowls and vases as the focus of much of his work. He then may alter the object or use it in an unconventional way to capture an interesting shot.

“I find beauty in the thing that doesn’t work. The milk spilling out of the bowl or the sand spilling out of a woven basket,” says Henkel.

In a few of his more renowned collections, entitled “Stacks” and “Covers, Paper and Edits,” Henkel cut apart numerous books with a band saw then rearranged or stacked the pieces, forming a series of new books. Henkel, who had difficulty reading as a child, says this is a way for him to “reorganize the information” and “make the books [his] own.”

The result is an array of colorful encyclopedias, novels and atlases that catch the eye with their distinctive shadows and angles. “This is making knowledge visual and beautiful,” says Henkel.

When working in the studio begins to feel claustrophobic, Henkel photographs the world outside.  He’s traveled everywhere from Paris to Egypt and Gettysburg, Penn. to document his surroundings, yet he still focuses on the simplest aspects of where he is.

In a cross-country collection entitled “Sports,” Henkel’s photographs are void of athletes and instead capture ballparks and football fields in their most naked states. Bleachers sit empty and no balls accompany the goalposts.

“I’m looking for the poetry in sports. [These places] are the stages before and after the performance. I find that very compelling,” says Henkel.

Next, Henkel says he may turn his focus to the silhouette, an image he says offers the “most minimal of information.” But wherever his camera and imagination take him, we know he will be able to find the beauty.