Today's Segments:
Scott Olsen's new book, "Fargo Street," captures the essence of everyday life in Fargo, documenting the people who call this small city home. Through his photography, Olsen presents a vivid portrayal of the community and the unique sense of place that defines Fargo.
In Prairie Plates, Rick Gion explores coffee shops, highlighting the unique charm and delightful smells that make them special. Gion's reflections on these local spots reveal the cozy atmosphere and inviting ambiance that coffee enthusiasts cherish.
Harvest Public Media investigates the 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico, an area severely affected by low oxygen levels due to harmful nutrient runoff from Midwest farms, primarily caused by fertilizer. The segment delves into the impact of climate change and the lack of specific regulations to control fertilizer use, leaving farmers to make voluntary changes.
Transcript of interview with Scott Olsen:
Ashley Thornberg
So what are you looking for and what are you seeing about the town right now?
Scott OIsen
Well, all sorts of things are going on right now. You have people using Broadway Square as a place to relax and sort of spend part of the morning. You've got a special event being set up, you have people walking through that may or may not know where they're heading.
It is a microcosm and a great example of a great many things that are going on at the same time. Street culture is the kind of place where people are unguarded, where they are unapologetic. They're just being themselves outdoors.
Ashley Thornberg
Now, I am in this space as an audio professional. Right now, I am noticing in particular that my left ear can hear this music. I'm hearing the opening and closing of these tables.
I can hear as I'm zipping up my bag to try to move along. How do you navigate a space like this when you're holding a camera?
Scott OIsen
It's not actually all that different. I listen as well and I hear all the things that you've heard as well as the traffic as well as what people are actually saying in their conversations. I am a horrendous eavesdropper.
I love listening to other people's conversations.
Ashley Thornberg
Professional voyeur is what I like to call myself.
Scott OIsen
Well, which is what a street photographer is as well. Now, there's all sorts of things of interest. There's the visual of the tables that are being put up here.
There are what people are wearing given the temperature that it is today and the forecast for the rest of the day. There are people's different purposes for being here and how their behavior sort of manifests that. There are colors.
This is actually a fairly colorful place. There are the flowers on the light poles. There's the green of the trees, the green of the astroturf.
Ashley Thornberg
I'm looking at these angel wings that kind of look like ice cream cones, honestly. Bright pink on top, yellow in the middle, blue wings. They look like if Dr. Seuss designed an ice cream cone. Absolutely.
Scott OIsen
And I've got to say, those angel wings are magnificent for street photography because so many people walk by and either respond to them or don't. And people that ignore them when you put them in that same composition really can be an interesting commentary as well.
Ashley Thornberg
Okay, tell me more about that.
Scott OIsen
During the street fair, during the markets, people walk by that all the time. And if you get somebody looking, let's just say, less than angelic and put them...
Ashley Thornberg
Why did you look at me when you said that?
Scott OIsen
Ah, don't be. You get some great bits of irony or when I contrast, I don't mean visual contrast like subject meaning contrast. Those things, the rock that's here in the park, the furniture, walk all through downtown and you see great opportunities where the setting is as much a part of the content of the image as the people you're photographing.
Ashley Thornberg
Let's do that. Let's keep walking. As you're walking around with your camera, do you have a planned route?
Like where do you want to go? Right, left?
Scott OIsen
We'll start right here for a second. Do I have a plan? No.
Do I have an area? Yes. And I'll let serendipity and chance lead me wherever I want to follow.
For example, on a Saturday morning, there's an event center right across the street here where a lot of wedding things go on. And knowing that, I know I'm going to see dressed up people. I know I'm going to see crowds of people that look the same.
And sometimes...
Ashley Thornberg
Somebody's going to be rushing. Someone's going to be dropping things. Someone's going to be carrying lots and lots of stuff.
Scott OIsen
Well, there's one of the great photographs that I missed, and I'm still kicking myself for this, that this young woman who's dressed elegantly in a long dress with high heels came down the street holding about 75 balloons. And it was one of those days where the wind was blowing about 40 miles an hour. And I thought, oh, please, Lord, let me get my camera out fast enough, because it was a struggle.
She was having a time. And no, I didn't get that one.
Ashley Thornberg
Oh, no.
Scott OIsen
But stuff like that happens. And here in front of the Jasper, you have people arriving and departing all the time. So there's a lot of commotion.
And of course, here in the park, you have everything from yoga lessons to concerts to whatever. People congregate here. It's a park.
So you're always going to see someone that looks interesting.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah. Let's talk a little bit more about what you just said about, like, please, let me get my camera out there. Did you ever feel like you could say, hold on, just wait, let me get the camera.
Could you have done that and still been a street photographer? Oh, absolutely.
Scott OIsen
I am one of those people that, I mean, really, I walk around with my camera in my hand. I am not hiding the fact that I am taking street photographs. And a lot of street photographers actually do pride themselves on stealth.
They don't want to be seen. They say that's going to...
Ashley Thornberg
Shoot from the hip.
Scott OIsen
Shoot from the hip, or these little, you know, tiny cameras. They say making their presence known dilutes the moment. And I agree with them at some times.
But those aren't the only moments. If you go through the book, you'll see fully half the images. Gotta love loud cars.
Fargo loves cars. This is the hang around down here. You're going to see old cars.
You're going to see classic cars. You're going to see all sorts of things. And the people who are driving them, the people who are parading their vehicles around.
Quite often, if I see somebody who has an interesting look, I will go up to them and I will say, you've got a great look. Do you mind if I take your picture? And that is street photography.
It's a street portrait. You know, it's sort of a subset. They are fully aware that I'm taking their picture.
And then we go on. Just as often, I will take a picture and whoever I'm taking a picture of has no idea that I have taken the picture. And it's not private behavior.
It's behavior out in public. It is the kind of thing that I don't want to ruin the moment. And I will often, after that, go up to them and say, hey, I just took a great picture of you.
Are you OK with this? And they will say yes or no. If they say no, I will delete it.
Ashley Thornberg
Right in front of them, I will delete it. OK. Legally, you have the right to photograph anything that happens in public view, but ethically, you did feel like you need to.
Scott OIsen
There is a big. Yes, there's a big difference between law and ethics in street photography.
Ashley Thornberg
Let's pause for a second right here. Are you seeing this outfit coming up? Yeah.
Like this is a fabulous woman in like a full silk pink outfit. Like how much do you want your camera right now?
Scott OIsen
You guys all look fantastic.
Ashley Thornberg
Here we go.
Scott OIsen
Now, one of the things, a habit of street photographers is the compliment. And I don't mean to lie. I mean, you don't go up.
But it's really a good thing to what if you're going to if you're going to talk to somebody is to say, I think you look interesting.
Ashley Thornberg
You look cool. Yeah.
Scott OIsen
OK, so and it's amazing how easily people will want to talk to you. I have had the occasion several times where I've walked up to somebody after taking their picture and I've said, hey, I got this picture. What do you think is OK?
And they say, oh, I wish you would. I delete it right in front of them. And then I've had them chase me down and say, can you take that again?
Ashley Thornberg
Oh, yeah.
Scott OIsen
They say, yeah, actually, that was, you know, that was cool. That was OK.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah. How interesting.
Scott OIsen
And there are all sorts of other ethics in there, such as photographing children or photographing the homeless or photographing people that don't have perhaps as much authority or agency to respond to you as you want. And you can it's really easy to exploit people as a street photographer.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah.
Scott OIsen
And realizing that the subtleties of that are important. You keep that in mind the entire time. There is, for example, right up around the corner from us here, a fire escape that has a covering at the end.
And just before they serve breakfast over here at the Salvation Army. During the summer, during warm weather, there's probably somebody sleeping underneath that, which I know because I'm downtown a lot. I see what's going on.
I don't have a picture of that. That's not something I'm interested in taking a picture of.
Ashley Thornberg
Why not?
Scott OIsen
They don't have the ability to say no in the way that I think is responsible for me. I guess, you know, the same thing taking a picture of kids. You know, can they say no?
Yes. Do they really understand what's going on?
Ashley Thornberg
No.
Scott OIsen
Now, standing here at the window of Mezzaluna, I stood out here and took a picture of them cooking one night.
Ashley Thornberg
Oh, nice. Okay.
Scott OIsen
And they saw me.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah.
Scott OIsen
Okay. And I'm in a public place. They have a giant window there.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah. That's part of why they're doing that.
Scott OIsen
Yes.
Ashley Thornberg
As part of their marketing.
Scott OIsen
Absolutely.
Ashley Thornberg
How do you go through the process of deciding what ends up in the book? Because you have images of kids going down a sledding hill. You have people at protests.
You have people dancing in the street. You have a guy sitting in an apartment window across from a cat. You have a guy doing handstands in the park.
You have the governor and his bodyguard. But how do you decide who's going to end up staying in the book?
Scott OIsen
I have thousands of pictures that are not in the book, even though they might be interesting. The picture has to be, first of all, compelling just in its own right. There has to be a narrative.
There has to be something about the image that makes you wonder or engage with what's going on. So story is actually the first dynamic that I've got. Is there a story in this image that is implied or explicit or makes you want to know what's going on here?
I'm a great fan of irony. I'm a great fan of a disconnect. So there's generally in the images things that don't match.
That's not always the case, but often it is. I'm not out to get anybody. And I have a bunch of images that I think are wonderful images that will never see the light of day because that's being a little mean.
That's being a little bit too hardcore in terms of exposing something.
Ashley Thornberg
So you're telling me you'd be a terrible paparazzi photographer.
Scott OIsen
Well, no. I would simply make a different decision. I would say, okay, I am out to get somebody.
And frankly, if I was doing this on some other assignment, let's say I was doing a giant expose on sidewalks, you know, I would be working with a different ethic. No, but my ethic in my projects really is to illuminate and sort of celebrate the town more than expose something seemly about it. Narrative is the first thing that goes in there.
And a good sense of composition. I mean, the image itself is balanced. Finally, the emotion that it evokes.
Street photography, if you're thinking about New York or Paris or London, rarely includes landscape shots. For some reason, you don't see a lot of pictures of Central Park or Hyde Park in street photography books from those cities. And yet I included a bunch of them in my book because landscape around here, you know, being as small as we are, is a good bit more present.
There are things down here like this thing right here.
Ashley Thornberg
What are we looking at? This is radio, Scott.
Scott OIsen
Okay. This is we're in Roberts Alley, and this is the faded painted sign across the alley from Beer and Fish for something or other orders for something overall.
Ashley Thornberg
Something. Something. Toggery.
Is Toggery a word?
Scott OIsen
It could be. But, you know, there is this whole thing out there called ghost signs, which are exactly this, the signs, the old painted signs. And Fargo is filled with them.
If you start walking around, then you realize there is a story, not so much of people, but of the place, the history. Now, if you're standing here in Roberts Alley today, one of the things that you notice is that all the superstructure is gone, all the old telephone poles and electric wires that used to be up there.
Ashley Thornberg
Okay. I did not notice what's not here.
Scott OIsen
Right. But it's one of the things about a street photographer is it's not just show up on a Tuesday afternoon, shoot and leave. It's history.
It's knowing what's going on. There are the tracks of the old trolley system in the alley over by the Mario wall, you know, knowing that that's the old trolley system. It leads you to something else.
Ashley Thornberg
So there's so much more texture than I've ever paid attention to right now with just There are paintings on a nice brick facade. There has been artwork on the electrical stuff. There's somebody who is experiencing homelessness hanging out back there.
There is a kind of a tapestry painted. I kind of go with the term industrial chic. Yeah.
They just try to paint over existing, you know, infrastructure. But then across the way, you've got this little enclave of bright colored flowers and ivy growing over an area that, you know, you'd walk behind this door and suddenly you sort of feel like you're in a totally different place. Absolutely.
Scott OIsen
And street work is a series of choices. I can stand right here and think I've got a wide angle lens on. I'm going to try and capture as much as I can.
Or I'm going to put on a really tight lens and I'm going to go for some small detail that I find resonant or evocative that way.
Ashley Thornberg
How often are you caught by surprise?
Scott OIsen
All the time. Absolutely all the time. Because there is, I mean, you and I could walk around the block and come right back down this alley.
Ashley Thornberg
The cars will have changed. The people will have changed.
Scott OIsen
The light will have changed. There's one story, for example, there's a guy who probably most of us know who plays street guitar. And he's generally hanging out over near Atomic Coffee.
Well, one afternoon, the police were after him just a little bit about using an amplifier. As I understand the story, he had permission for busking, but not for amplified music. And he said, well, what about all the loud music coming out of these cars that are going by?
They're a lot louder than I am. And the police told him that music coming from cars is not covered by the ordinance. So he went and he got his pickup truck.
He sat in the bed of his pickup truck. And that's the picture I've got.
Ashley Thornberg
I kind of love that.
Scott OIsen
You do. And he wasn't being disturbing or annoying or anything. But you look at it.
Why is this guy sitting in the bed of a pickup truck playing guitar? Right. There you go.
Ashley Thornberg
He's making a point. It's kind of like the people who can't have chickens because they're too loud, but nobody cares about the dogs.
Scott OIsen
Yeah. Now, one of the images in the book you'll notice right here doesn't exist anymore. They've taken that fire escape down.
Oh. Here. And so there's going to be an image, you're going to say, where is that?
You can't go find it anymore. So there is a historical value. The alleys of Fargo are all very interesting, but.
Ashley Thornberg
Oh, yeah. This is remarkably different from Robert's Alley. There's like no color.
Scott OIsen
No. But here we've got the Graver Barbers with the great window. And it never appealed to me photographically until one tremendously cold blizzardy day I was driving by and here was some guy getting his hair cut in the window with the snow and the wind and everything.
And I thought, there's an image. There's that disconnect. You know, the kind of intimacy and familiarity of getting your hair cut with weather that will kill you.
Ashley Thornberg
So we have to have an intimate relationship with weather around here.
Scott OIsen
There are a lot of weather images in the book.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah. Well, I mean, you're capturing a sense of place in a city known for weather that will kill you. And yet it doesn't take over.
The images that included the weather kind of made me snicker, like the mailbox that was just completely covered in snow. Whereas I feel like if I was walking around in that, I'd be so angry.
Scott OIsen
We brag about the weather around here. When we get horrible storms, we get on the phone and call people and say, it's 15 degrees below zero. We want people to be impressed with the fact that we're still alive.
Fargo, as you also know, has what, 32, 33 murals. They are interesting in and of themselves.
Ashley Thornberg
What have you noticed about the way people interact with space based on the changes that have happened? When I came here for college in the early 2000s, I don't remember any of these murals and maybe I wasn't paying attention. But I mean, we definitely didn't have Broadway Square.
We definitely didn't have the wings to pose in front of, all the big fun art spaces to pose.
Scott OIsen
People's relationships to space is really complicated. I mean, there used to be old cliche that people would never subscribe to a newspaper until they got a mortgage. Once they felt...
Like I have roots. I have roots.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah.
Scott OIsen
And there's a lot of people, especially in the student population, they don't feel invested that way in the town. Sometimes, often what's interesting is simple geometry.
Ashley Thornberg
Ah, yeah.
Scott OIsen
I mean, one branch of street photography is what's called urban landscape or architecture, where you just walk around and you look for really cool patterns in the physical presence of a town. This series of electrical boxes here and the conduits leading into the apartment building just graphically is really intriguing. Why?
There's a whole branch of philosophy called aesthetics. Why is this beautiful? Yeah.
Centuries have tried to explain that, but it is. Now, see, this to me would be interesting.
Ashley Thornberg
Oh, yeah. This is just a pile, a discarded pile of bricks, clearly from a demolition site. Yep.
As you can hear, there's a fair bit of demolition and construction going on, on this lot.
Scott OIsen
And those bricks won't be there in a week.
Ashley Thornberg
Right. Yeah. So you got to get them now.
Scott OIsen
Sites in town have their own clientele. They have their own groups of people. So standing again here at Broadway and 2nd, we have on one corner the VFW, which is one population.
Across the street, we have the silver lining, Creamery, which is a very different population.
Ashley Thornberg
It's a very different population.
Scott OIsen
But they all meet right here. On the Kitty Corner.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah.
Scott OIsen
And so street photographers talk about hunting and fishing. Hunting is you go walking around looking for stuff. Fishing is you sit down and wait.
And it's not either or, it's both and. But this corner right here in the park is a great place just to settle. And that's what happened the other day when this guy comes along and starts dropping off what he called gratitude stones in town.
Little rocks that he'd rubber-banded sayings of gratitude. He was just leaving all around town for people to find.
Ashley Thornberg
For people to find, yeah.
Scott OIsen
And the only reason I saw him was because I was not moving. I was simply sitting still waiting to see what came to the square versus walking. Other days, I'm hoofing it.
I'm going everywhere I possibly can.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah. And do you decide that ahead of time? How much of this is just instinct?
Scott OIsen
Instinct, accident. I mean, I may walk for an hour and think, I'm tired. I'm going to sit down.
Now I'm going to wait for an hour.
Ashley Thornberg
Yeah.
Scott OIsen
Some of it's based on, you know, what's going on. You know, there is the guy who sets up here quite a bit, does the soul tacos. Okay?
I really like his food, so I'll hang out there for a while. People in this town are fairly approachable. And it might be, you know, because I'm just an old guy walking around and I look relatively harmless.
I've not had ever any issues of people responding badly to what I'm doing. I have had people say no when I say, can I take your picture? I say, okay, fine.
Ashley Thornberg
They have that right.
Scott OIsen
They do. Which brings up an interesting thing about when the book comes out. When I took their picture, many people knew I was taking their picture.
Many people didn't. But none of them know, because I didn't know at the time, that they're going to be in a book. And so I think this book is going to be a huge surprise.
And I'm hoping a pleasant surprise to a lot of people. Okay, just stop right here.
Ashley Thornberg
We have a dunk tank sitting in the middle of the street.
Scott OIsen
We're walking down the street.
Ashley Thornberg
This was not here when we walked by an hour ago.
Scott OIsen
No, but now you start to wonder, why is there a dunk tank on a trailer in the middle of the street on a Wednesday morning?
Ashley Thornberg
What's next for you?
Scott OIsen
A new project that I'm also starting, which is more street photography, but in one of the classic cities of the world. I can't say where, but I'm going to make a little trip and do a dedicated dive.
Ashley Thornberg
You're going to Des Moines?
Scott OIsen
Des Moines, yes.
Ashley Thornberg
That was photographer W. Scott Olson about his book Fargo Street. Pre-sale is going on right now, and it ends July 15th.
It's $28 on pre-sale, and after pre-sale ends on July 15th, it goes up to $40 plus shipping. And Scott notes that anyone who orders within 60 miles of Fargo Moorhead will get the book hand-delivered by Scott himself. Just type in local when you order the book, and it is available at readframes.com by searching Fargo Street. And just a side note, it has already sold to people in 23 different countries.
NOTE: Prairie Public uses TurboScribe.ai to create transcripts of some of its episodes. The audio is the official record of the show.