Personal photography
Creativity of Deborah Sussex meshes with natural world
Angie Riebe
Mesabi Daily News
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 30th, 2003 10:52:42 PM

ELY, MN- The raw beauty and emotion of the natural world has long inspired Deborah Sussex's photography.

There are times she could spend days in the outdoors and never run out of kindling to capture through her camera lens - from the shadow of a cactus in the Southwest to a quiet scene of a lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Area.

But there are also moments when the photographer wishes the subjects of her images would just "talk back" to her.

And sometimes they do.

—

Sussex, of Ely, has developed a thriving niche in her photography business by photographing people in their own personal elements.

Portraits are shot in locations where people feel comfortable, often outside, where the backdrop may be a favorite lake or cabin.

Sussex, who has become known for her landscapes and black and white fine art photography, has always enjoyed taking photos of people. She treasures her ability of capturing people in candid, true-to-life moments in surroundings where they feel and look comfortable. The most meaningful compliments she receives are from those who say her portraits look so natural.

"One of the most rewarding things for me as a photographer is making other people happy," she said from her second-floor studio on Chapman Street.

While she loves photographing landscapes, Sussex said it's refreshing and motivating to hear the subjects of her photographs actually convey delight in her work. There are days when "you don't feel inspired and you feel a little insecure," she said.

But that changes when people smile at shots of themselves and loved ones. "It feeds creative juices," she said.

—

Sussex's creativity was cultivated at an early age. Fine art was a favorite subject and she studied it through high school.

Originally from North Dakota, Sussex also relished the out-of-doors. When she was in junior high, her family moved to Roseville, Minn., and a school friend whose family had a cabin on Burntside Lake introduced her to the northwoods. She had no idea such a place existed, she said.

The following year, at age 14, she and her friend attended the YMCA Camp Widjiwagan in Ely. Sussex, then a "shy youngster," was thrilled with "everything the area had to offer" - canoeing and camping - things "my family never did," she said.

Sussex later spent five summers and three winters working in environmental education at the camp. It helped establish her focus on the outdoors and taught her about interacting with people, Sussex said. But she never planned one day to move to Ely. Rather, she developed the traveling bug and begin her journeys in New York at age 20.

Sussex went on to study anthropology at Hamline University in St. Paul, which took her to places such as central Mexico and Nepal. She also became an instructor for the National Outdoor Leadership School, based in Wyoming, and led college-age students on remote wilderness mountaineering and sea kayaking expeditions domestically and abroad.

Sussex spent 11 summers in Alaska, and her travels took her to places including the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountains, the Yukon and Arctic Circle, the Northwest Territories and British Columbia, Latin America and Patagonia in southern Chile.

She felt fortunate to explore such remote landscapes and wanted photos of each place. With her artistic background, photography "was a natural medium for me," she said. "I could sling a camera just about anywhere I went."

Sussex began to build a collection of landscape and still life photographs, including a series of black and white cactus images depicting the plants and their shadows. The shadows allude to a sense of "what's there but what's not there," she said. There's a sense of something else there" - a mood evoked in many of her photographs, she said.

Some of her most popular photos today belong to a series of black and white images showing crosses, shrines and sacred places in the Southwest.

Sussex sold some of her photographs to magazines, but it wasn't until later that she decided to make her living as a photographer. In 1989, she met her husband, Michael Dietzman, at the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon. He was a handler for racer Dave Olesen; and Olesen and his wife and Sussex were friends.

Dietzman was working for the Outward Bound School in Ely and looking for a home base for his woodworking business. The couple decided to make Ely their home, and nine years ago Sussex opened her studio.

Much of the work she sells locally reflects the northwoods. Though about half the pictures for sale are color prints, Sussex has a passion for black and white photography. Not many people photograph the northwoods in black and white, she said. But Sussex enjoys the mood created by an absence of color.

Color can be "distracting" she said. Black and white pictures bring out "key elements." In fact, Sussex often prefers to shoot on overcast days. Such lighting creates contemplative and peaceful "moody" photos, she said.

Sussex likes images that cause people to "sit and stare and think" - images such as one of stumps protruding from a quiet lake or a photo of a lone canoeist in the midst of an October snowstorm on a BWCAW lake. The black and white image of the canoeist, who looks over his shoulder giving the sense that "something's out there," is one of her best sellers, Sussex said.

Landscape photography is about more than pretty scenes and sunsets, she said. It's also about geography and "harsh realities." A photo that means much to the photographer was taken on her grandfather's farmland in North Dakota the day he died. People often make jokes about the barren prairies of North Dakota, but "it's a challenging landscape for people to live on and with," Sussex said.

Many of her photos have graphic elements, such as one depicting the "S" curves of Sand River on an overcast autumn day, or a shot of Table Rock, a landmark found on a stone beach along the Basswood River. The "ancient park bench," as Sussex calls it, is "steeped in history," and she can imagine Voyageurs and Ojibwe sitting upon the rock long ago.

Sussex signs each print and does her own matting and framing, using high quality wood or metal moldings and acid-free materials. Her fine art prints have been popular from the start, but to make a living in the business, Sussex offers a number of other photography services as well, including the location portrait work.

—
"I'm filling a niche," Sussex said of her portraiture.

She has nothing against studio photography, but simply chooses to do something different, she said. Besides, Sussex said she'd rather shoot outdoors than in an indoor studio.

"People are most carefree and most natural in settings that reflect who they are," said Sussex, who photographs children, families, people of all ages, pets, weddings and special events in outdoor and indoor settings. During the summer, she photographs many family reunions in the Ely area, she said.

She strives to reveal the character and essence of the people and places she photographs. Long before the term "wedding journalism" was coined, Sussex specialized in candid-style photographs of such events, she said.

Sussex continues to enjoy exploring new places and cultures and is willing to travel at clients' requests. She's shot weddings throughout the Midwest and as far away as the West Coast.

Capturing a person's personality or a candid shot and "making it look effortless is the trademark of one's skill," Sussex said. It can be "very challenging ... no different than shooting a difficult rapid or climbing a difficult mountain," she said.

—

Sussex also does commercial photography for business advertising, CD covers, and custom framing. She has a line of greeting cards, stock photography for licensing, and has been published in magazines such as National Geographic World, Sports Afield, Wooden Boat, Women Sports and Fitness, Canoe and Kayak, Boundary Waters Journal, and Twin Cities Business Monthly.

She also shoots high school senior portraits in her studio, where she has a small gallery and a digital darkroom. While Sussex uses digital photography, she still largely uses 35 millimeter and medium format cameras. Her favorite is a classic medium format Swedish Hasselblad.

Some people think too much diversification in a business takes away from each element, Sussex said. But she enjoys the variety and it works for her.

One of her latest projects was a book she photographed called "The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga." Authored by Jerry Stelmock, the book documents the now 92-year-old master wood and canvas canoe builder Joe Seliga of Ely and contains more than 200 of Sussex's photos documenting his work.

Sussex and Stelmock were recently presented with the 2002 Northeast Minnesota Book Award for the project. "That was very exciting," Sussex said.

A limited edition print from the project depicting Seliga's canoes is now being sold. The prints are numbered and signed by Seliga and Sussex, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the Joe & Nora Seliga Wood Canoe Endowment to help maintain the more than 100 wood canoes at Camp Widjiwagan.

Sussex is proud to have had the chance to work with Seliga, who has always been "humble" about his handcrafted canoes, she said.

She hopes to do more book projects in the future - maybe one using black and white images. And she plans to continue to travel and to immerse herself in the world which embodies her photography.

—

Sussex's work will be on display at the Grand Marais Art Festival July 12-13 and at the Ely Blueberry Art Festival July 25-27. Her Web site, soon to be updated with several hundred of her images, can be found at www.deborahsussex.com.

Ely photographer Deborah Sussex is pictured with some of her black and white art photographs at her Ely studio. She also specializes in location portrait photography.

The raw beauty and emotion of the natural world has long inspired Deborah Sussex's photography. Sussex, of Ely, has developed a thriving niche in her photography business by photographing people in their own personal elements.

Deborah Sussex's image called "Seliga Canoes" depicts canoes handcrafted by 92-year-old Joe Seliga of Ely. Sussex, photographer of the book "The Art of the Canoe with Joe Seliga," is selling the limited edition print, with a portion of proceeds going to an endowment at YMCA Camp Widjiwagan in Ely.

A black and white photo of a lone canoeist caught in an October snowstorm is one of Ely photographer Deborah Sussex's most popular images.

A young girl is shown during a candid moment in one of Deborah Sussex's portrait photographs.

Ely photographer Deborah Sussex strives to reveal the character of the people she photographs. This is one of her portrait shots.