“A mile from my house on my morning drive, as the drainage ditch starts to dry, I can push the shadows to become darker negative spaces. It's the same place day after day. Every day, however, I hope for something new. I'm always looking for a new perspective of this area. If the croplands on the way to work didn't offer me a new face every day, life would seem bleak.”
- Joseph Night
- Receding Water, 2008
- Pigmented ink on archival paper
- Framed: 18 x 24 in (45.72 x 60.96 cm)
In 1966, Joseph Night made his first attempt at photographing South Dakota, with a 1945 Mercury half-frame camera in hand as he stole his father’s Jeep and took off to capture cornstalks in a Walworth County snowstorm near Selby, SD. His work remains focused on his immediate environment, most recently this being his children and rural Clay County in southeastern South Dakota. Joseph states that most of his photos are from within two miles of his home, a semi-rural area with a low enough level of traffic that he can afford to slam on the brakes when he sees the opportunity for an image. He is a self-taught photographer who continues to work with 35 mm, medium, and large-format cameras.
- Current Location: State Capitol Building - Conference Room 414 - 500 E Capitol Ave PIERRE, SD 57501 (google map)
- Collections: Art For State Buildings