The Think Room

One late night in the basement of the Turf Club, a rock & roll bar in St. Paul, Minn., my eyes wandered to a series of photographs hanging on the wooden paneling. The portraits of families, groups of pierced teenagers and go-go dancers drew me in. Common throughout all the portraits was a thin, expressionless, slightly scruffy man. He was obviously not part of the group, but appeared to be neither an imposter nor a guest. Yet, he belonged.

If you looked closely, you could notice a shutter release in his right hand. He was the photographer. These were his self-portraits. He was not the first to do this. Adoration of the Magi by Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, shows the artist witnessing the nativity of Jesus. But these photographs were powerful in a more subtle, less loaded manner.

They got me spinning about human nature and self. I thought, what a completely bizarre concept, a self-portrait that was giving the limelight to other people. Bizarre and brilliant. And aren't we truly ourselves when surrounded by other people? Paul Krafel's book Seeing Nature: Deliberate Encounters with the Visible World explains that we never witness a wild animal's natural behavior because our very presence is manipulating their actions. I think the best and worst of people comes to light when we interact, when we have an opportunity to be good or bad. We are truly social creatures. You can imagine my surprise and delight when years later, I met this photographer. Mark Pakulski joined Olson as an art buyer. He continues to capture these intriguing self-portraits and gives me new fodder for obsessing over what they mean. I just think they're great. Hope you do too.

-Creative Director