Paul Wegner

Faculty
Inver Hills Community College
Inver Grove Heights

“Working with a 5x7 view camera, a camera with its design origins in the 19th century, allows me to place emphasis on the relationship I develop with the subject of the portrait during the sitting. It's a slow process culminating in the exposure of one, maybe two negatives for each subject I photograph.”

Paul Wegner received his MFA from The San Francisco Art Institute in 1998. Paul's career in education began as an Instructor at two Community Colleges in the San Francisco Bay area. In 2005 Paul and his family returned to Minnesota. Presently Paul teaches Photography in the Art Department at Inver Hills Community College.

These images are from an ongoing body of work depicting individuals from many different backgrounds, interests, and professions who assemble once a year for the firing of the Johanna Wood Kiln at the Pottery Studio of Richard Bresnahan, Artist in Residence at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. These individuals travel from various states and countries to be a part of this ten-day firing. The photographs offer us a view into the people who bring life to the kiln, and begin to depict the unique community formed by this annual event.