Angela Strassheim's Artist Statement
Beginning a project on a college campus where one has to travel with a huge cart of photo gear from one building to another in the freezing Minnesota cold was not easy to get excited about. I love making photographs, but this project had many challenges from the start.
Darkness would set in early. Everyone was inside trying to keep warm while I wandered around looking for something though various windows that might catch my attention. The cold, the wind, and the fear of getting frostbite kept me to traversing from one building to another. Time and again, I was drawn to a sound from a distant source or a light in a doorway hoping to find life inside.
It was difficult to meet students. I did not feel comfortable blindly approaching them and instead grabbed a copy of the NNB and showed up to group gatherings and auditions for plays. I also contacted professors or coaches I was interested in or felt some connection to. After a while faces became more familiar and interacting with students became easier.
Halfway through the project a blizzard left me stranded in Northfield. While exploring Northfield I met someone from “Crack House” and was invited to play the drinking game “Beirut”. Wandering in stadium one afternoon I came upon a young woman lifting gigantic weights over her head. I was amazed by this and came to find that she is the only Olympic-style weightlifter at Carleton. During the photo-shoot she must have lifted that thing at least 40 times. It was basketball season and what girl would not jump at a chance to be surrounded by a team of stinky, hot young men in gym shorts. While on my way to the Winter Ball I was invited to Prentice House where lovers felt more inclined to hide out in their own private “orgy” room. I did manage to find out who held Schiller, but as a photographer I became more interested in the legacy of the streakers. The library was a place occasioned by groups of students running naked and disturbing the peace.
I enjoyed seeing the same students over and over again in different contexts. Each of their personalities would change depending on which peer group they were surrounded by. The age of an undergraduate student was a very memorable and important time in my life, and it was fun to revisit. Carleton is an intriguing place and I am realizing how much I missed out on in my college experience by choosing to go to art school instead of a liberal arts college with more diverse opportunities. My experience at Carleton has given me a little of that time back, if only for a short moment.