Written by Colin Willemsen, Upstream Care for Place Fellow

As a teenage photographer, my passion for the landscape has continually been shared with many of the other activities I’ve been involved in throughout my life. Particularly, in high school the limitations of a rigid schedule meant I’d often lament my chances of getting out to the places that I felt a true connection with: the natural spaces of Minnesota. However, I’m grateful to have had access to a variety of interests while growing up and I feel that this diversification allowed me to understand what activities and pastimes I appreciated and valued the most.

My path has been directly affected by those whom I seek inspiration from. When I consider the Lake Superior region that I call home, there are countless people whose work and advocacy for the region I’ve been inspired by. But for me, the photographs and mission of Craig Blacklock, a landscape photographer who began his career on large format film, and has worked to bring awareness to the Lake Superior region through his magnificent photographs stands out the most. As a photographer from the younger generation, I want to embrace and continue the advocacy and work that many photographers before me have started.

It’s the knowledge garnered from my past experiences and the path I’ve taken to reach where I am now that guides me towards what I want to achieve in the future and defines what goals I set. Currently, I’m focused on determining new ways I can shed awareness on the incredible region that is the Lake Superior watershed. Having spent the last few months at university in Washington state it is interesting to see how people view my home state. I believe it’s important that Minnesotan citizens are vocal about how beautiful the place we inhabit is, in order to share this view with others.