Tim Gruber and Jenn Ackerman use both photography and video to tell stories for editorial and commercial clients. 
Minnesota Monthly has quickly become one of our favorite clients to shoot for. Rob called us while we were in NYC to photograph the Univeristy of Minnesota president, Bob Bruininks, days before he was to step down from his position.
After receiving the assignment, we quickly turned into librarians and researched as much as we could about the president. We quickly discovered that he has a home on the Gunflint Trail in the far northern reaches of Minnesota. We got engaged along the Gunflint Trail a couple of years ago so we knew right off the bat we would all click. Bob also caught the second largest Walleye in Minnesota while fishing up north in the Gunflint area, earning him the nickname “Walleye Bob”.
Needless to say, thanks to Google we felt like we had a decent understanding of Bob and were excited for the shoot. We knew we wouldn’t have a ton of time with him, but with the time he did have he was very generous and we were able to shoot a few different scenes. From there Rob and the staff at Minnesota Monthly did a bang up job with the design. We love that opening spread!
Here is the story online.
A few photos:
Recently we spent a few weeks documenting behind the scenes at the Miss USA pageant. This year we wanted to get a little more intimate and bring people beyond the stage to get to know what their lives are like for the two weeks while they are there. We produced a film called the 19th Floor (renamed The Contestant Floor for security reasons). It was one of our favorite films we have ever produced for the pageant as it allowed us to do what we do best – get access into intimate and personal moments.
This year was the 60th Anniversary of the pageant which allowed us to photograph and interview some of the former title holders. It was interesting to hear their perspectives on the pageant after being away from it for 50 years.
We have been pretty busy during the month of May and are now just getting around to posting some recent assignments.
Jenn was sent to the state capitol in St. Paul to cover Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for The New York Times as he was traveling around the country endorsing his education reform. Now that we have lived in Minnesota for about a year, we have been excited to be a part of the community and the interesting political environment here in the North. Here are some photos from the assignment.
I was flattered to find an email land in my inbox the other day congratulating me on being selected into the 2011 PDN Photo Annual Contest. Word on the street has it over 3,000 photographers applied? I was happy to be one of the chosen.
The project awarded was The Island project I’ve been working on. It’s always great to have your work acknowledged
but it’s even sweeter when it’s a personal project shot on film that means a great deal to you.
Here are some scans from the project that I’ve yet to share. I hope you enjoy them.
To see a full edit of the project so far see the gallery on the fine-art section of our website.
“Individually we are one drop. Together we are an ocean.”
At times it’s easy to lose sight of just how therapatic the camera for me can be. It’s easy to get caught up in the chase of being photographer. Sometimes you feel like you can never catch up.
These photos for me are my way of breathing in the warm salty air and letting my mind get lost in the echoes of the waves crashing. I look at them today and I’m taken back to the warm ocean air and feel the cool sand on my bare feet. It’s just me, a camera, the powerful Atlantic and not a thought racing through my head.
Perhaps John F. Kennedy said it best though.
I really don’t know why it is that all of us are so committed to the sea, except I think it is because in addition to the fact that the sea changes and the light changes, and ships change, it is because we all came from the sea. And it is an interesting biological fact that all of us have, in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came.
As we’ve been getting accustom to calling Minnesota home we have been busy shopping our books around. One meeting we were excited about earlier this year was with Minnesota Monthly, who produce a great magazine and on top of that give photos great play. A win-win in our book.
Our first assignment for the magazine was to take a portrait of Lindsy Halleckson, a local painter. A very talented painter we might add. See for yourself on her website. Lindsy is the kind of person you hope for when you have a portrait assignment – full of life and open to trying anything to ensure you get a great photo. It was a great collaboration. Thanks Lindsy! The photo of Lindsy was to promote the Art-A-Whirl event that happens in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. It’s dubbed the largest open studio and gallery tour in the US. We’ve yet to experience it so we’re excited ourselves to take it in.
A very warm thank you to Rob, Jeremy and Kirsten for the first of what will hopefully be more great assignments in the future.
Jenn’s work hanging at the Minneapolis Photo Center was mentioned in a Star Tribune review of the show. If you have a chance be sure to get to the Photo Center and see the work hanging. It’s an international show with photos from 14 countries and is up through April 17th. The turn-out for the gallery opening was quite insane and perhaps the biggest one Jenn and I have ever attended. It was great to see the photo community here in Minneapolis coming out in full force.
Along with the show they had panel discussion moderated by Mary Abbe, the art critic, for The Star Tribune, along with Darsie Alexander, chief Curator, Walker Art Center, Christina Chang, Assistant Curator, Weisman Art Museum, Stevie Rexroth, Media Chair and Katherine Turczan, Professor of Photography, Minneapolis College of Art & Design. Panels can be hit or miss, but this one was a gem that went beyond the cheerleading and left us feeling recharged.
Mary Abbe, the art critic, for the Star Tribune had this to say about Jenn’s photo for a review of the show:
I also very much liked Jenn Ackerman’s “Exposed: Betty,” in which a handsome, auburn-haired over-70-something strikes a bathing beauty pose worthy of World War II pinup Betty Grable.
Jenn's image featured on the home page of the Star Tribune for a review about the show.
We made our way to rural Iowa recently for two assignments with one of them being an interesting story on the rate of divorce in rural America catching up with their urban counterparts.
A few photos and a tearsheet of the article on the iPad:
One of the most visually stimulating things I have photographed since moving to Minnesota was the Eelpout Festival in Walker, MN.
The festival that celebrates ice fishing is 3 hours north of Minneapolis in Walker, MN. People have called it Mardi Gras on Ice. About 14,000 people crowd on a lake, build ice houses, bars, dance clubs and fish for Minnesota’s version of spring break. Even though the numbers were way down this year, this town’s Spring Break on Ice lived up to its name.
As a kid I had a phase where my favorite things to watch on TV were the WWF and monster truck racing. After all what 7-year old boy doesn’t love watching the likes of Hulk Hogan and The Macho Man Randy Savage screaming non-sense at one another and settling their problems by slamming chairs over their opponent’s head. To follow that up I’d watch monster trucks turn cars into pancakes. My favorite monster truck was The Grave Digger.
So you can imagine my delight when on my way to the Outer Banks for the first time we passed the headquarters of The Grave Digger. After years of driving past it I finally decided to stop and make a photo.
For a few seconds when I was out making this photo I felt like that 7-year old boy again.
