Photographer Gene Stukel of Granite Falls has been exhibiting in the Meander Art Crawl for 16 years. He’s curated a stunning portfolio of wildlife and landscape images with his keen eye for natural beauty. Born and raised near Ely, Gene spent a lot of time in the woods fishing, hunting and camping as a boy. The photographs would come later.
From classroom to camera
Gene was teaching social studies at Granite Falls High School (later Yellow Medicine East High School) when he agreed to use his hobby photography skills to take pictures for a wedding in 1974. From there, word spread, and he got busy photographing weddings and senior portraits.
“The biggest thing is the people we’ve crossed paths with,” Gene said about his career.
Meanwhile, Gene continued teaching as a day job, and was raising a family alongside his wife, Helen, who was a part-time coordinator/teacher in early childhood family education and school readiness programs for 33 years. She’s also been with Gene every step of the way on his adventures in photography.
With everything the Stukels had going on, there wasn’t really time for formal photography classes until later in life. Instead, Gene worked on his craft mostly by trial and error. And he always kept an eye on his surroundings. Gene remembers family vacations out West when he’d constantly be parking the car to capture something on film, and get complaints from the kids, “You’re not stopping again, are you?”
A natural talent
But his curiosity and sense of wonder have served him well, including in capturing the beautiful display of Northern Lights that is featured in the foundation’s holiday card this year. The photo was taken near Wood Lake on a clear night. Part of the appeal of living in a small town in Southwest Minnesota is that “in 5 minutes, you can drive out and be taking pictures of the landscape,” Gene said.
Over the past 10 years, he has had the opportunity to seriously pursue landscape photography and enjoys photographing the Minnesota River Valley, Southwest Minnesota as well as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and North Shore. Gene believes that it is important to document the landscape as a reminder of what people need to consciously protect for future generations.
“Without this documentation, people quickly forget how the landscape looked at various points in time. This awareness, through photographs, is a way of continuing to advocate for protection and care of the environment,” he said.
You can see more of Gene’s work at genestukelphotography.com
Southwest Initiative Foundation proudly supports Meander Art Crawl each year to promote the talented artists and vibrant communities in the Upper Minnesota River Valley of our region.
