New Project

I started a new project a few months ago, and it’s already taken a big turn or two. For now, here’s where it started:

My parents are building a new home. This is their “retirement house” as they are about "that age." The old farm will be rented out and eventually sold. This is the farm where I was raised. It is the farm that my Dad was born and raised. Likewise for my Grandmother. It has been in our family for about 120 years. I’m the eldest child in my family, and I’m the only son. It should be my job to take over the family farm. But here I am in the “big city” working as an artist.

This is the final year that they will be in the home when I was raised. I wanted to create some photos based on childhood memories of growing up on the farm. Here are some initial images:

“The three oaks”


“Juiced oranges in the cornfield”


“Receding frost line”


“Dad’s workbench”


“Holding the freezer shut”

I’m not sure why I’m showing you these because the project has changed quite a bit (or at least a little bit), so these aren’t “usable” images anymore.

I took one roll of film with a Holga, and here was an image that came from that:

“Where Ginger died”

The project took a bit of a turn here. I’ll be back shortly with some new images.

“16 Days In Red Wing”

Here’s the finished book!

I have 48 of them in my possession right now. I’ll have 12 more shortly, and I’ll make the final 40 when there’s enough demand. The edition (if you can add) is capped at 100 books. All books are signed and numbered by me. Right now, I’m selling them for $45, which is a steal! (Add $5 if you’d like me to ship it to you.)

Contact me if you are interested in purchasing a book: stevestenzelphotography @ yahoo.com or 763.913.2977.

Also, in case you missed it, I had another piece in the NY Times Magazine this past weekend. That makes 3 pieces in the last 4 months.

Two Big Things

#1: So, as far as I know, I’ll have another piece in the New York Times Magazine this Sunday. So check it out.

#2: My book is being bound! Last night, I laid out 48 books. The total edition will be 100, but I don’t have all of those done yet. It’s a good thing we have a dining room table with 4 leaves:

I should have these books back by Tuesday. So check back mid-week and see how everything turned out. Have a good weekend!

Check the NY Times on Sunday

I think I’ll be having another piece in the NY Times Magazine on Sunday. I’m not 100% sure. I think they’re going with it. Have a look, and try to find my name on an image in an article about sustainable farming practices.

Getting Closer...

So I met with my designer a few more times, and the book design is complete. I actually produced my first hard copy (bound and all) about a week and a half ago. There were some issues with the cover, but I can alter that when I do the final run.

Tomorrow, I plan to start some printing. Look what I brought home with me this morning:

That’s 39 boxes of paper. Nearly 2000 sheets. Lemme at em.

Give me 2 weeks, and I hope to have this book ready for sale. Check back shortly! Happy Winter!

In Progress...

I've been working with my designer, and doing a lot of work in my head, and I'm getting closer to having my Red Wing book ready for printing and binding.

Proof? Here's the InDesign file being tweaked (for the um-teenth time):

I'm hoping to have this book out in the next month. We'll see how it goes. Stay tuned!!

New York Times Magazine: “What Every Child Needs”

This past weekend, The New York Times Magazine contained one of my images for a story about pre-school. Here’s how it appeared in the magazine:

They also used a nice detail of this image on the table of contents page. If you subscribe to the newspaper and your magazine is still laying around from this past weekend, have a look-see. Thanks!

New York Times Magazine THIS WEEKEND

So, it’s a go! Clinton, someone in the photo department of the Times who I hadn’t worked with before, took over for Stacey when she took a day off. I sent him that image (from the previous post) a week ago, and he told me a few days ago to send an invoice. My understanding of it is that it will be used in a photo essay about Preschool. It will be used in the story AS WELL as in the index page. We’ll have to see how it looks.

So go purchase a New York Times Newspaper this weekend and check out the magazine. Stay warm out there!