Perimeter: Photographs by Kevin J. Miyazaki

The intersection of long-distance hiking and fine art photography doesn't happen too often, but when it does...WOW.

Meeting up with the artist, Kevin J. Miyazaki, at the opening

When Kevin J. Miyazaki contacted me last summer about being part of his photography project commissioned by the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee, I was intrigued. 

I met Kevin in the lakeshore town of Saugatuck, Michigan, where he told me more about the project. He was attempting to create a contemporary portrait of Lake Michigan through images of people connected to the lake: residents, beachgoers, scientists, dock and iron workers, environmentalists, artists, fishermen, ferry captains, boat builders, and more.

And when he searched for people with connections to the lake, my name came up. He asked me to bring all of my hiking gear along for the portrait:

Portrait by Kevin J. Miyazaki

 Kevin sifted through the hundreds of portraits he took on his drive around the perimeter of Lake Michigan. He also took hundreds of images of the lake and sky.

In the exhibit space at the Haggerty Museum of Art, he covered one wall with portraits, and the other with the images of Lake Michigan. 

The effect is stunning. The diverse people with their various connections to the lake look at you from one wall, and the lake gives movement and depth to the opposite wall. 

These images speak to each other, and there is always something new to discover as you stand in the midst of Miyazaki's work.

My mom (right) and my sister, Leslie (center), travelled with me to Milwaukee for the opening of the exhibit

How cool is that?

My mom (Left) and sister (Right)

The catalogue from the exhibit includes quotes from people photographed

  My quote:

I am magnetically drawn to that place where water meets the sand. 

There's something about that edge. 

I feel as if I've "clicked in" when I walk it. 

It is along the shores of Lake Michigan that I return to center myself, to contemplate life, to think the long, unbroken thoughts that modern life interrupts.

Me and my lake!

The photographer with his work

The exhibit will be at the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through May 19 of this year. After that, there are plans for the exhibit to travel, so I'll post that information when it is available on my Facebook Author Page (please "Like" it to get updates).