In the middle of the night...

While I'm not one to usually photograph at night, something about this once-upon-a-time hotel in the small town of Union, Nebraska made me want to capture it under the street lights. Only one car drove by as I set my tripod up on the side of Highway 34, but a handful of cats came out to see what was going on and knocked over a metal trash can in the process.

I need more night photography practice. It's not as easy as it looks.

Some Like It Hot

From the May 6th issue of Omaha's Shout! Weekly...

Sweet Home Nebraska
"There's not a lot of money in being a quirky photographer from Nebraska," Joseph Vavak admitted with a laugh - but that doesn't seem to have slowed his pursuit.

The quirky photographer from Nebraska recently completed a project entitled "ninety-three," a visual travelogue of the Cornhusker State, a "notebook," Vavak said. "Rather than looking for something specific, I just go. Whatever I run into, I take pictures. It's kind of a documentation of what I saw.. found photographs, you could say."

Vavak began the project in 2007 after researching his genealogy and the history of his family in Nebraska. "There's actually a small graveyard in a field [that] was the original gravesite of the Vavaks who [first] came here," he said. "I took photographs of that to start with, and I didn't know what I was going to do with it."

But, like many artistic developments, "it spiraled out of control." Vavak began a series of two and three-day excursions across the state, documenting as he went. The result was "ninety-three" - one photograph from each of Nebraska's 93 counties.

Capturing Nebraska in postcard-like snippets, the images reflect the mixed small town and rural landscape of signage, storefronts, farm-houses and fields. The display of tight, orderly rows serves to highlight the photographer's eyes for symmetry, and the colors are crisp and clean - wheat, whitewash, asphalt and rust, with overtones of sun and sky. Even farm town dilapidation - peeling paint, broken clapboard, old murals - feels fresh in this light.

"[It's] just taking the little details that maybe people overlook, that are all around us," said Vavak, "and putting them in a context where they are interesting."

The images themselves are, perhaps, what one would expect of a photodocumentary of the Midwest - cows in cornfields, grain, silos, run-down sheds - but in front of Vavak's lens, Nebraska comes across with beautiful, bright simplicity.

"I've learned that I really like it here," Vavak said of his travels. Currently in south Omaha, he has lived in Nebraska since he was a teenager. "I considered it home beforehand, but I really feel like Nebraska has a lot to offer that people don't necessarily see... I know there's a lot more to it than what we see here on the east end."


Shout! Weekly is available for free throughout the Omaha metro area. Thank you to Lisa Martin for the kind words and covering the Hot Shops open house.

If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, ninety-three will be be on display through the end of May.

Thank you

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made it out to the Hot Shops this weekend. It was great to see so many friendly faces and I'm fairly certain I said "thank you" more the last two days than I usually do in an entire year. While putting together your first solo exhibition is daunting, the reward of seeing people enjoying the work and getting involved in conversation about Nebraska definitely makes it all feel worthwhile.

If you've yet to get down to the Hot Shops, the exhibition will remain on display through May 28th. Don't forget to sign the guest(note)book if you do.

The time is now.

Hello May!

The show has been hung and I can't wait for everyone to get a chance to see it. I'm excited for how it turned out. It was a stressful few days getting prepared but everything is ready to go. The open house at the Hot Shops runs 12-7 on Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday. I look forward to seeing some familiar faces.

I have to thank a few key people who helped make this a reality. Kelly Adams from the Hot Shops for her patience, very supportive nature and helpful advice. William Hess for printing and mounting the images for the show. Logan Epps for crafting the shelves that make the whole thing work. And Steven Schmiedeskamp for lending a hand to hang the show on very short notice.

There are many more people who have inspired and accompanied me along the way that I am just as thankful for. I am very lucky to have a life with so many great friends and family around me.

Enjoy the show.