More Shots of My New Work at the MN State Fair

Last month, I shared 2 posts (here and here) about a piece of mine that got into the Minnesota State Fair's Fine Art Exhibition. Here are a few more shots of my piece at the fair.

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My son and I were there when the building opened on the first day of the fair!
(It's usually CRAZY busy in here otherwise.)


My little wooden-framed piece off to the right.


My son told me to enter a printmaking piece next year as I'd have the best odds.


When we were back at the fair another day, we caught this woman enjoying my piece.


I received many photos of my photo from friends who saw it at the fair, like this one from my favorite librarian...


... and this one from a neighbor...


... and this one from a friend.

Even my dental hygenist (who I only know in her professional capacity) asked "was that 'Steve Stenzel' piece at the State Fair yours?!?" And then she had a lot of questions about how it was created. I loved that.

When the fair was over, I stopped by to pick up my piece. We never got to try the Amish Donuts at a stand near the Fine Arts Building, and there were still signs of it the day after the fair:

The Fine Arts Building being dismantled for the year.


Walking through the fairgrounds with my piece.


My piece in the 203-page 2026 Fine Art Exhibition Catalog.

In case you missed it, check out this post about the process of making my piece for the fair and then this post about the Fine Art's "Preview Night" at the 2026 Minnesota State Fair.

2026 Minnesota State Fair 'Fine Arts Preview Night'

I posted earlier this month about having a piece at the Minnesota State Fair's Fine Art Exhibition. Here are a few pics from the Preview Night that was 2 days before the State Fair opened to the public:

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Me with my piece at the "Fine Art Preview Night" a few days before the fair started.


Running into a family friend and her son at the Preview Night (they are on the left).


A few shots of the crowded Preview Night!








There’s my piece near the right.






With malts outside of the Fine Art Building.


Leaving the Preview Night.

See more about my piece in this post.

I'll have a few more pics of my piece up during the State Fair in an upcoming post.

New Work on Display at the MN State Fair

I received some good news about a month ago when I was informed that my piece was accepted into the 2026 Fine Arts Exhibition at the Minnesota State Fair! I got to work cutting a mat and making a frame:

Cutting a rabbet in a piece of poplar.


Mitered and dry fit.

The work I submitted was brand new work from me. I've been experimenting with "cameraless photos" or "photograms" for the last 15 months or so, and I hadn't shown any of the work to anyone, except for a few students. So it was a vulnerable step to submit it to the competition, especially knowing that only about 10% of photography work gets accepted. It's WILD that my piece was picked!

A photogram is made by shining light through a semi-transparent object with photosensitive paper underneath it. That will give you an image like a negative - where the light doesn't get through stays white, and where more light gets through it starts turning black. It takes trial-and-error to figure out the proper exposure time to get a solid range of values.

The negative of some tiny maple seeds. [Click the image for a larger version.]

After the chemistry steps, washing, and drying, I then repeat the process. This time, I place the paper "negative" on top of another sheet of photo paper, do tests to get the proper exposure time figured out, and then shine light through that paper negative to make a proper "positive" print. And voilà: a photo created directly from the object without the use of a camera. The result is a life-size small print as there's no way to enlarge it.

The final print. [Click the image for a larger version.]

There any many more choices that go into making this work, but that's the gist of it. I don't know what I'm doing with this "series" yet. Right now, I'm still just playing. But in a world moving more and more towards embracing A.I., this physical work being created solely in a traditional wet darkroom feels like an intentional return to a slower, tactile practice. And honestly, that could have been part of the draw for the juror of this exhibition - it might sound funny, but there could be a "rebellious" undertone to this cute little idea.

Getting ready to deliever my piece to the fair a few weeks ago.


On display in the Fine Arts Building! [Click the image for a larger version.]


My piece on the wall near the front of the Fine Arts Building, just moments after
the building opened on opening day. [Click the image for a larger version.]

The Fine Arts Building has been BUSY, and I've had friends say they haven't made it in because it's been so crowded. I was there a week ago when the building first opened so I could see more of the work and snap that image above before it became too busy.

I'll have more photos from the exhibition shortly! In the meantime, you have a few more days to stop by the State Fair and check it out!

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey"

There's been a lot said about Christopher Nolan's new movie "The Odyssey." I've been watching different stories about how it was shot. Here's a 4 minute clip from "60 Minutes" from Facebook:

Direct link: facebook.com/reel/1629829631643231

And here's a longer 9 minute version from YouTube:

Direct link: youtu.be/1GEqDZ3hQSo?si=XJsIHU4pharV03wv

Spring Semester Professor Feedback

I recently received feedback from my students in my Photo I and Photo II classes at Concordia this past semester. The part where students checked the box for "strongly agree," "agree," "undecided," "disagree," or "strongly disagree" came back in my favor. I was above the university average for all categories except one (which was about the relevance of the course among all majors):

Photo I. Click the image for a larger view.


Photo II. Perfect marks. Again, click the image for a larger view.

I always like it when students leave written feedback, but my older (more jaded and ready for graduation) Photo II students didn't leave any. And my Photo I students just left a few remarks:

Simple but sweet comments.

A.I. Generated Ansel Adams Print

This has been news in the art world lately. The Danziger Gallery has a colorized version of an Ansel Adams photo that AI generated that is for sale in its gallery. They did not contact anyone at the Ansel Adams Trust before "using" that image and altering with an AI prompt. That lead to this statement from The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust after using Adams' name and his photo for commercial purposes without its permission:

Interesting, as ArtNews pointed out, the Trust doesn’t seem to have a particular issue with the use of AI, but instead the process (or lack thereof) that the Danziger Gallery went about commercializing their version of his photo.

The gallery then released a 10 paragraph statement after the Trust called them out. I don't really want to paste it all here, but I want to hold on to it in case it disappears from their website, so here it is:

I would like to respond to the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust recent statement criticizing my creation and exhibition of an A.I. generated color version of Ansel Adams’ famous “Moonrise Over Hernandez” at the AIPAD art fair.

As the image is in the public domain I had every right to create a new and transformative work. My interest in doing this was based on my love of the iconic image, my interest in seeing how A.I. could be used as a tool for creativity, and to create an imagining of what Adams saw in real life as he was driving along US. Highway 84 that made him stop his Pontiac station wagon and scramble to set up his bulky 8x10 view camera as the sun was setting on the adobe church and cemetery crosses while the moon appeared through the clouds.

I had long believed the image was in the public domain but to confirm this beyond doubt, I hired one of the most respected copyright lawyers in the country to insure this was the case. It was indeed confirmed to be in the public domain and I was free to create a transformative color rendition of the image and to exhibit and sell the resulting prints.

From my perspective, this was done with great respect to the image and the artist. When it was exhibited it was very clearly attributed as to exactly what it was. (See the actual wall label above). [EDIT: the label reads: "A.I. GENERATED. From the prompt: Make a realistic color version of Ansel Adams’ iconic “Moonrise Over Hernandez”."] As for the print itself, while A.I. served as the starting point, the final image involved extensive human intervention, editing, proofing, and refinement over many months. My goal was to create an image that felt visually convincing and compelling on its own terms while remaining grounded in admiration for the original photograph. As far as I was concerned, I would only show or sell the image if I felt it was perfect.

This was obviously a subjective judgment. You can see the result above. But what it meant to me was that the color version I was creating had to be two things. It had to look completely convincing (not “colorized”) and it had to be a beautiful image on its own, both to people who knew the black and white original as well as to people who did not know the image. The response at the AIPAD fair was largely positive. Most negative comments were directed at A.I..

Interestingly, it should be noted that in Adams earliest prints of the image the sky was a light grey. As he began to make more prints Adams printed the sky darker and darker and eventually he took the risky step of chemically intensifying the negative to make the sky even darker. As The Trust pointed out in their statement “Ansel Adams was an innovator who continually expanded the expressive and technical possibilities of the medium. He was remarkably prescient about – and excited by – the potential of computers to transform photography.”

As anyone who is familiar with my 50 year career in photography would know, I have always stood up for photographers’ rights. I have publicly defended photographers whose work was found to be illegally appropriated and spoken at legal forums on the subject of appropriation, taking the side of photographers whose work was unfairly copied, but also understanding the nuances involved in the subject. Given both the public domain status of “Moonrise” and the transformative nature of my exercise, it was clear I had the right to create a new work. Public domain works have long served as foundations for reinterpretation, experimentation, and new creative dialogue across generations of artists.

Finally, I have turned down requests to talk to writers at several publications about the issue, as my intent was not to create controversy but to create something beautiful and interesting. As the Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust’s statement was publicly disseminated across social media I am now responding, however, I would like to apologize for not informing them in advance of this project.

I would like to give the last word to Ansel Adams as posted on the official Adams Instagram:

"I am frustrated by both exposure-scale limitations and rigid film-color response. As 'reality' is out of the question, I can indulge myself with explorations of the 'unreal' color which may or may not have intriguing aesthetic effects: I would not want 'post-card' realism, but I would enjoy 'enhancements' of the colors which I fear is not possible with conventional material today….. The scope of control with the electronic image has not been explored, but I feel confident astonishing developments await us in this area." - A.A. (1983).

James Danziger.

That reads a bit like "sorry not sorry" and "I'm pretty sure it's legal so leave me alone" and "Adams would have been OK with this even though I checked with everyone execpt Adams' own people."

I supposed that sentence gives up my stance on the situation. It might be legal (I'm not clear on the public domain rules on his prints, but I know many are still under copyright protection), but I don't know who would want to own a computer colorized version of a print that is so famous because a master black and white printer has taken the time to make it perfect. I can't see how anyone who respects Adams for the work he's done would want a AI colorized version one of his iconic B&W pieces.

I'll be watching this story if there are more developments (photography pun intended)...

Student Juried Exhibition at Concordia University

The student juried exhibition was earlier this month at Concordia, and here are some photos of the show. I've had about 1/3 to half of these students in my Photo I, Photo II, or Advanced Photo classes over the years, and some of the photographs are from projects in my classes. I love to see their work exhibited!!

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That bigger image of Aidan's was from a great project in my class.




An intriguing photo on the left, and a panoramic image
from another former photo students on the lower right.










Two current photo students with prints near off to the left.










The closing reception was packed! I was just there for a few moments, but I snapped these last 2 pics.

Congrats students! Good luck with finals coming up!