Irwin Norling, Old Shakopee Road and Portland Ave, 8-10-1957
“If they wanted photos, I always provided them gratis. A lot of these accident or crime scene photos would come in handy as evidence, and the cops eventually became my best salesmen. If an attorney or an insurance company wanted photos, the police department would refer them to me, and these people would have to pay for them. I knew I liked to take pictures, and I discovered that I liked it even more when I realized I could make money at it.”
“I learned pretty early on though that 30 feet of skid marks were a whole lot more interesting as a photograph if there was a wrecked car sitting at the end of them.”
-Irwin Denison Norling
The year isn’t even over yet but I’m already looking forward to seeing Suburban World: The Norling Photographs, a book by Brad Zellar with a foreward by Alec Soth that comes out in 2008.
Irwin Norling, Self-Portrait, 10-29-1967
Irwin Denison Norling was a hobbyist photographer (he thought of it as a hobby) who documented and captured a range of subjects in his suburban hometown of Bloomington, Minnesota starting in the late 1940’s and continuing into the 1980’s.
Before long his hobby developed into a family affair that included his wife June and their three kids Michael, David, and Patricia. Everyone contributed to the picture making process. Together they made over 10,000 photographs covering a wide range of subjects like car accidents, crime scenes, portraits, small town scenes, sports, business, etc.
The only information I can find about them on the net is this great article from 2003 written by Brad Zellar who is the author of the book.
This should be quite a treasure trove of fantastic photographs, I really can’t wait.
