one man's museum

(that old collage try)

Zebra Dog Studios creates “miniature museums” and other three-dimensional exhibits that blend branding, marketing and history. Founder Mark Schmitz, Zebra Dog's top dog, stands in his office in downtown Madison, which is like a one-man museum filled with decades of graphic design materials he’s collected.

When I was doing this portrait of Mark Schmitz, I knew I wanted the photo to be about his office as much as him. This man's passion is taking small personal histories and reproducing them large. His office speaks volumes about his own history.

I've loved doing photocollages ever since I was introduced to David Hockney's work. But they are so labor-intensive to assemble that I've shot many more than I've ever had time to finish. I recently bought a pan head for my tripod and some specialized stitching software, so maybe you'll see more of them soon.

I shot this for today's Wisconsin State Journal story.

Good news can't wait

Don't congratulate me yet, because nothing is definite. But I can't keep my big fingers off the keyboard. I want to share this tentative good news:

Last night, the Madison Arts Commission approved an arts grant for me and FOCCUS. We applied for funding to do a show of my Chernobyl photos this summer. The exhibit will run June-July at the UW Health Sciences Learning Center and July-August at Bethel Lutheran Church.

However, the city council has to approve all the grants before they are definite.

In other news, I have been notified that I am a finalist for a Fulbright fellowship. If I get it, the Fulbright will fund me to go back to Chernobyl for a year, to continue my After the Nukes documentary project.

I expect to have final notice about both grants in May.