as seen: art ed

classroom chalkboard, Donkey Mill Art Center © kjm

as seen: black, white

white feather on black sand beach © kjm

as seen: access

church door stopper, Ke'anae, Hawaii © kjm

as seen: poke

acupuncture clinic, Little Tokyo © kjm

as seen: ichi-gatsu

restaurant wall, Little Tokyo © kjm

as seen: find

bakery interior, Mackinaw City © kjm

I found this picture, which I had forgotten about, while searching for contest images from 2012. This was taken about halfway through my trip around the perimeter of Lake Michigan.

perimeter opens

Mauka, Makai, 2012

I'm thrilled that the Perimeter project is now on view at the Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee. The installation includes fifty 24x20" portraits and forty-eight 20x24" waterscapes in a single room at the museum. It will be on view through May 19, 2013.  More information can be found here: kevinmiyazaki.com/perimeter

as seen: red

Tom's dining room © kjm

as seen: blue

guest bathroom © kjm

borders

 






map (folded) that arrived in the mail © kjm

© kjm

I'm working on the upcoming Perimeter show at the Haggerty Museum in January. This is a test installation of 9 of the 48 waterscapes that will be installed.

as seen: sanctuary

window in Rev. Sampson's church © kjm

as seen: road to the white house

thirty lawn signs on a drive from St. Louis to Wauwatosa, November 6, 2012 © kjm

as seen: boo

teeth on hay bale © kjm

look for it

Michigan City, Indiana © kjm

I'm prepping files and images to be printed for the upcoming Perimeter exhibition. For the past three hours, I've been looking at water and horizons - and then this one opens up in Photoshop.  Look closely, everything you need to see is there.

as seen: mighty

maple © kjm

as seen: plate

weathered Wisconsin truck plate © kjm

as seen: roadside

roadside memorial © kjm

as seen: crackerbox

discarded Cheez-It box © kjm

as seen: form

Mold-A-Rama of the Rosa Parks bus © kjm

I recently did a shoot at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, a terrific, sprawling place, which I'd love to revisit with Marilu at some point. Highlights were a ride in an open-top Model-T and the museum's Driving America exhibition, which included cars of all makes, not just Fords. They have a wide-ranging, interesting collection, which includes a mid-century modern furniture exhibit, an Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, the first Honda Accord to come off the production line, the chair that Lincoln was assassinated in, and the Rosa Parks bus. The bus was beautifully restored, and I was told that President Obama recently toured it. With little time to really see any of it (I'll be back), I settled for a Mold-A-Rama version of the bus on my way out. Maybe the machine was still warming up, because it spat out a bus that was distorted and crushed, looking like it had been through, well, a riot. American history in the form of green, molded plastic.

i love this photo, #41

© Matt Eich

I love this photo by Matt Eich, shot in the aftermath of tornadoes in Joplin, Missouri. Matt is such a talented photographer and is only in his mid 20's, so there are many more beautiful pictures to be made.

as seen: sponsor

team photos, Buddy's Pizza © kjm

as seen: adverb

Coffeehouse wall, Detroit © kjm

as seen: conjunction

butcher shop sign, Port Washington © kjm

mark

white seamless © kjm

as seen: congregate

church, Mineral Point, WI © kjm

Perimeter: home

Bradford Beach, start and finish © kjm

Perimeter: around

Loreen, Amy and Mary © kjm

Earlier on my trip, I had the pleasure of meeting Loreen Niewenhuis, who hiked the perimeter of Lake Michigan and wrote the book, A 1000-Mile Walk on the Beach.  Not content with just Lake Michigan, Loreen is working on trekking all the Great Lakes, and is currently striding along Lake Huron.

When photographing her, she told me about best friends Amy Lukas and Mary Catterlin, who were paddling a homemade dugout canoe (it took Mary 4 years to build) around the perimeter of the lake. I caught up with them on Friday near the Lily Bay boat launch near Sturgeon Bay.

Jenn Gibbons is also on a trek around the lake, which began by rowing solo to raise awareness for her organization Recovery On Water, which promotes healthy exercise for survivors of breast cancer. Sadly, Jenn was assaulted while on her boat in the Michigan UP last week. But amazingly, she is continuing her trip, currently on a bike (and with fellow travelers) until she can once again board her boat in a more populated area. Jenn and I had exchanged emails about being photographed for the project, and I still hope to make her picture when she's back in Chicago.

And I can't forget the women of the Mother Earth Water Walk, who made their way around the lake in 2004 and 2008.  I'm back home now, but am inspired by all these women, and will continue to follow their travels. They make my little drive around the lake look like a jaunt to the grocery store.

Perimeter: home stretch

Dave, Davis and Chuck © kjm

My day started out with one of the nicest little stretches of lake roads thus far. County highway U from Sturgeon Bay to Algoma and the smaller Lower LaSalle Road were understated, but had all the elements I was now seeking after 12 days of driving: A quiet, unlined road near the lake, with both old school small cottages and a few newer, but tasteful houses; no signs warning about private drives, and a county park that was spotlessly clean and offered both a dramatic view and access to the water. In my trip, some of my favorite viewpoints were county parks. Along U, there was a littlle bit of woods, family farms, runners, and both serious roadbikers and a family on bikes.

Farms with sweeping views of the lake were now appearing, and I pulled into the gravel drive at Dave Seidl's place (left), and was greeted warmly by his three labs. Dave's grandfather started the farm in Kewaunee, which was once a dairy operation, but is now beef and pork. 

In Manitowoc, I met Chuck Sontag (right), who local journalists Matt Apgar and Ben Wideman had told me about. Chuck lives across the road from the lake and has been collecting stats about local birds for over 40 years, venturing out to the lighthouse two or three times a day.

And nearly at the end of my day, I found a diverse set of families enjoying General King Park in Sheboygan, which included 3 year-old Davis Chang (center).

Perimeter: on water

Kaela and Al © kjm

This morning I spotted a slew of sailboats in the waters of Green Bay  and stopped to investigate. I learned that they were students (like Kaela Steele, left) in a summer sailing program at the Ephraim Yacht Club. This summer, 260 kids learned sailing skills at the club, led by Alex, an energetic math teacher from Chicago. I headed north from Ephraim and eventually ended up on the ferry to Washington Island. Al Stelter, a resident of the island, guided my car on board and later posed for a picture during the 30-minute trip. (He also acted as a photo assistant by holding my background in the wind while I photographed others!)