Each year more than two thousand artists living in Minnesota submit a single work for inclusion in the Fine Arts Exhibition at the Minnesota State Fair. Last year, 365 works were selected from 2267 pieces to be a part of the exhibition. This year, I am excited to announce my photograph, The World Is About to Turn, was selected for inclusion in the exhibit.
The photograph was taken in the Minnesota State Capitol rotunda the afternoon of May 13, 2013 while the Senate debated a bill that would allow gay and lesbian couples to be married in the state. The large crowd, dominated by supporters of the bill, filled the capitol with chants, songs, and cheers as they awaited the eventual passage of the bill. The crowd was filled with hopeful anticipation of sought after justice and civil rights.
The title comes from a hymn called Canticle of the Turning written by Rory Cooney based on the Magnificat (Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55) and emphasizing the radical justice Mary’s song envisions. With each stanza the refrain returns
My heart shall sing of the day you bring. Let the fires of your justice burn.
Wipe away all tears, for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn.
That afternoon, the world, it seemed, was indeed about to turn. And when the Senate gave the bill final passage, the crowd cried out with a joyful shout.
The panoramic photo (click on it to see a somewhat larger version) is made from six separate photos which were carefully stitched together and the boundaries between overlapping photos painstakingly corrected to select to account for motion in the dynamic crowd.
The exhibition runs the duration of the Minnesota State Fair, August 22-September 2, 2013 and is held in the Fine Arts Building on the fairgrounds in St. Paul.
My panorama of the wonderful cloister in Bad Wimpfen, Germany was included in the 2012 exhibition.
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