Richard Olsenius began his photographic career capturing images of everyday American life. While still an intern with the Minneapolis Star, he received his first major exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts entitled "High School." The haunting black and white images from inner-city schools provided a stark contrast to the innocent memories most people have of their school years. His work has gone on to appear in other museums across the nation.
He was hired as a staff photographer on the Minneapolis Tribune newspaper in 1970, winning over 100 state and national awards for his general assignment photography and special features for the Tribuneâs prestigious Sunday Picture Magazine. His work grew to encompass the rural landscapes of the West and Midwest, a theme he would return to in film, book and calendar. His stories took him across the nation, and to Europe and Asia, where he won the World Press Photo Award for his work on Cambodian Refugees.
In 1981, Olsenius left the newspaper to pursue film and book production. In 1981 his 30- minute film, "Autumn Passage," won a Bronze Medal at the New York International Film Festival. He went on to publish several books on the Midwest, including the Minnesota and Wisconsin Travel Companions, regional best-sellers, and the "Midwest" art calendar.
By 1986, he was concentrating much of his time producing stories for National Geographic Magazine. His assignments allowed him to further explore the American landscapes he had grown to love, as well as taking him along the Alcan Highway, the coast of Labrador and the Arcticâs Northwest Passage. Here he had the opportunity of traveling deep into the Arctic wilderness with Inuit hunters and research scientists. In addition, he sailed on the first American yacht to ever transit the Northwest Passage.
In between Geographic assignments, Olsenius won an honorable mention in cinematography from the 1989 National Educational Film Festival for his hour-long video, "America's Inland Coast," shown over PBS stations nationwide. The original music he composed for that film became the basis for his first multimedia product, Distant Shores, a four-color book of photography from the Great Lakes packaged with his original instrumental music.
With music a strong avocation from early years and an increasing influence in his work, Olsenius went on to compose music from his Arctic experience. With the advent of CD-ROM technology, he was finally able to link his many loves - photography, filmmaking and music compositions, into a unique multimedia experience called Arctic Odyssey.
Olsenius is married and lives near the Chesapeake Bay, where he and his wife continue publishing books, music and films which celebrate a sense of place, people and landscape.
|
