(bright music) (camera clicking) (bright music continues) (gentle music) - "Exploring the Heartland," I'm Fred Martino.

I am so pleased for this show today to be on location in Mount Vernon at the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, a WSIU partner.

We are at the exhibit, "Visions of Us: Southern Illinois Portraits," which is running at Cedarhurst through December 2023, but it's preserved forever through this program, and I am so pleased to have with us in the program the artist for the exhibit, Paul Elledge.

Paul, it is such an honor and privilege to have you here.

Thank you for taking time out for our program today.

- Thank you for having me.

I'm excited to be here.

- It's a beautiful exhibit.

The photographs are stunning and highlight the amazing strength and diversity of the people of Southern Illinois.

Tell me about the experience of putting this show together.

- The experience of putting this together has been amazing.

I went to Southern Illinois University, and as a student, this would be a project that I would only have dreamed of at that time period.

And so to come back to Southern Illinois and explore the people and the locations and the land was tremendously moving on many emotional levels.

- And the pictures have such emotion.

This is something that I wondered about when I knew that I'd be meeting you today.

How did you choose this amazing mix of people?

- When I do a project, I believe that creativity loves constraints.

So I make kind of a business plan of sorts.

And first I start out with how I see the images happening.

So all the pictures are horizontal, they're all shot with the same camera, the same lens, the same f-stop, and there's rules, there's no lighting, it's all natural light, and with a tripod.

And then I made a list of as many people that I could think of that I'd like to, that are in the world.

And I just made a list of 20 or 30 people to start with of different ethnicities, different religions, different occupations, really as broad a spectrum as I could imagine.

And then from that list, I found the people.

And then when I worked with somebody, I asked them, "Could you recommend somebody for my project?"

So it's like an inverse pyramid.

You start out with one person, that person gives you two people, those people give you three people, four, five, six, and suddenly you have everybody here.

So it's really a collaborative effort of not only my imagination, but the people I meet.

- And talk about a mix.

We have a city council person.

We have someone that worked in the mines, you told me.

We have a veteran.

The incredible work that must have went into this to find all of these folks who were willing, not just find them, but then that they're willing to do this with you.

- Exactly.

It's a real effort to find people that want to collaborate.

I mean, for some people, they have no understanding of what I'm doing, some people totally understand what I'm doing, and it's up to me to communicate and to kind of be a cheerleader to get them to join in my message.

And I really wanted to show the full spectrum of humanity and equally respect everybody, no matter left, right, center, all colors, all religions, all occupations, as broad of spectrum as I can so that I can give everybody and celebrate everybody equal respect.

- As you see it now in its brilliance here in this gallery, what strikes you about the mix of people that you met and now we all are sharing in this?

- The real aspect that strikes me is that we have much more in common than our differences.

And if we can celebrate our commonalities, there's gonna be a lot more love in the world.

And I intentionally tried to put people in the exhibit next to each other that might not necessarily sit at the same table, but in this exhibit, they do sit at the same table.

And I hope it opens up the eyes of people that there's more in common than separates us and that we could have respect for everyone and love for everyone.

- I'll tell you one thing that hit me that I can't recall seeing before that I think is an incredible idea.

Each photo has a name.

And so that in and of itself is a celebration of a quality that you felt this person epitomized and you wanted to share.

- The idea is, by nature, you hear the story, don't judge a book by its cover, but everybody judges a book by its cover.

And it's very hard and it takes a lot to try to engage people and really have an experience.

And so instead of giving the name of the people, I wanted to give an indication of who they were, sometimes that you would not expect.

A good example is the coal miner.

When you see the coal miner, you think, "Oh, that's a coal miner."

I know him as a sculptor.

That's what he does.

I know him from art exhibits where we've had sculptures together.

And I want people to look at everybody and try to engage them and find out what's inside them and what makes them tick and not just judge them by how they look or what job they have or their haircut or whatever it is that you want to jump to, but really engage people and try to reach into them and find commonalities.

- I love the language used.

Tell me about the process of coming up with those names and if you have one that when I ask that question comes right to mind.

- The one behind me of the veteran who's actually a hairdresser.

I met him at a hair salon.

And he's a classic example that you look at him and he's got all the hair and, you know, he has a look going, which is awesome, but you might not realize that he's a veteran.

And it really opens up your mind that the world is much greater than what you see.

- And a reminder that we all have different qualities that people may not know.

- Exactly, many layers.

- Yeah, and experiences.

The description of the show is very interesting to me.

It is, quote, "a new vision for social order and harmony unfolds with this exhibition."

Tell me what that means to you.

- What that means to me is to celebrate each individual on a one-on-one level.

So I try to give everybody equal respect and celebrate everyone and really bring a certain sense of equity in how I photograph them, how I presented them, and the stories that they're saying.

And so the idea is for when someone comes into the gallery, that it opens their heart and their mind to be more open-minded and more aware of the diversity and the richness of each individual.

- Can you think of an example of that where your feelings impacted the work beyond just the choice of the subject or the individual photo, but a time where you can think of that?

- Well, what's really curious about this exhibit is not only am I speaking to the audience, I'm speaking to myself.

In this exhibit, I didn't just photograph people I liked.

I photographed people I don't like and tried to break that same barrier with myself.

And so sometimes I had to have my own open mind 'cause maybe it's not somebody that I would sit at the table with, but by doing this project, it opened my mind to sit at the table with them and now we're friends.

And sort of the, I'm not higher or better than anybody.

I have the same issues that I need to overcome.

And this show really helped me to overcome those.

And I met a lot of people that would, in normal life, would maybe be challenging to hang out with, but now I hang out with them and I have love for them and I think it's opened my mind for everyone.

- That's wonderful.

You have some other portrait work, which is the focus of your career, I should say, on your website.

It includes some very famous people, including Tiger Woods.

Tell me about that.

- My career has really been to photograph people and it turned out that I'm very good with celebrities and it could be AC/DC or Smashing Pumpkins or the president of the United States or the CEO of Goldman Sachs, in every variety.

And I photograph people from death row to the presidency and everybody in between.

And my skillset is, because I work very quickly and I connect with people and I respect people, but I'm not afraid of people.

So if you have a billion dollars, that's fine.

If you have no dollars, that's fine.

I try to treat everybody the same.

But my career has really been to, what's paved the way for my career is the celebrity.

And oftentimes it was music or sports or whatever, but it really had to do with bringing a certain humanity to the famous and not making them, like, on a pedestal, strong, strength, but bringing a sense of humanity to those people.

And that's what gave me a lot of success.

- Your portraits have subjects with very different expressions, from smiling to very serious, perhaps sad.

Some, I've noticed, I mean, my interpretation is there's sometimes sadness.

Tell me how this evolves during a shoot.

- Okay, well, in my commercial world, there's a strategic look we're going for.

And so I do a lot of directing and there's a lot of strategy to make them look however whoever's paying me wants those person to look, 'cause it's prompted by a word.

In this project, it's a collaboration.

I can't make my pictures if the subject doesn't give me the time, the day, the moment.

So there's a certain coming together and I try not to get in the way of what's happening.

So generally I overly control a traditional photo shoot because it's 100% my vision with the prompt of whoever's paying for that.

In this way, it's a collaborative effort with the subject.

So if they have a natural smile, that's what we go with.

If they're feeling a certain sense of empathy or contemplation, that's what we go with.

But I really try to come together with them and not get in the way or put my opinion on that in this particular exhibit.

- This is a tough question.

What makes a good subject for a portrait?

- Well, that's a two-sided question.

Traditionally, there are certain people that I'm attracted to to make pictures of.

This is not that show.

This show is about finding everybody from all walks of life and representing them.

And what makes it ideal is if someone feels good about themselves and believes in whatever they are, no matter what they are, and, you know, that makes a very good subject.

But what really makes a good subject in this exhibition is if I can get the full spectrum of Southern Illinois, or of America for that matter.

- When I walked around the gallery, I was struck looking at all of the photos that I felt strength, determination, a confidence.

Did you feel that after you just chose?

- Yeah, well, I feel it when I make the picture.

I believe that you edit a photo before you even take it.

It's not like I, there's nothing done to, there's no Photoshop, there's no cropping, there's nothing done to these pictures.

So when I'm photographing people, I'm trying to find a common ground.

And that common ground creates a certain strength and a certain confidence, not only for the subject, but for myself.

And we come together and there's this magic that happens and that's when the photo happens.

That's the strongest.

And I know when I drive away, like, without even looking at the pictures 'cause I come from the film days, I don't need to look at the digital back or anything, I know the picture in my head.

And a good example is when I used to work with Oprah Winfrey a lot.

She's the only person that would say, "That was a good one, wasn't it, Paul?"

She could feel it and I could feel it and we had that moment.

These people, I just hope that they all felt good and they're happy and we had a nice connection and we are hopefully friends for life.

But there's a certain connection that comes and that's where those moments come from.

- Tell me about your background, how you came to photography.

- I grew up as a very curious kid that got beat down by a lot of teachers because I was exploratory in my curiosity.

I tried to find the fire escape, look out the window, try to compose things, take things apart.

And my dad was a photographer, my mom was a painter, and my dad worked for the state of Illinois and it was like take your child to work day.

So he took me to work, I was in third grade, and he was photographing the president of the United States, giving a talk in Springfield where I grew up.

And my dad would go in the alley to find a thing and the police would open up the door, he'd get on the roof, the police would let him up there.

It was originally just based that my dad got to go wherever he wanted and the police were like, "Please, come along, make your picture."

And I thought, "Wow, he's not getting the beat down for being curious."

So originally it came just because I recognized that that would be a good career for me because I'm curious and I didn't want to get beat down like I was at school.

And then after that, my dad started bringing home cameras and teaching me darkroom things.

And then I realized that I really loved making pictures and being creative.

And then in the '70s, I was really into glitter rock, bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper and David Bowie.

And when I saw one of these shows and I saw how they just didn't play the music, but they created a whole fantasy, I realized that I didn't wanna be like my dad and take pictures.

I wanted to make pictures from what was inside my head.

And so that's when I started shifting more towards a different approach than being a journalist, but being a photographer that is more conceptual and has ideas and tries to work with a narrative and a message that's my own, not trying to be equitable into the news world.

- But a very important commonality with many journalists, and I always say some of the best journalists, is that you were curious.

- Curious.

- I used to always get criticism when I was growing up with, "Why do you keep asking questions?"

And they still say that sometimes.

"Fred, you ask too many questions."

- I was raised to ask questions and to listen more than talk.

- Okay, so- - Those were the qualities that my family brought me up.

- Yeah, absolutely.

They should be celebrated, right?

Not derided.

So I have another question.

With cellphones and social media, there is so much more photography today and photographers.

Your thoughts on that?

'Cause it's just everywhere and it seems to be an obsession with many people, yeah.

- Well, first of all, the beautiful thing about cellphone photography is it brings a certain democracy to making pictures.

When I was a little kid, if my dad wasn't a photographer, I would've had no money to take a picture, develop it, print it, and it's an expensive, you know, it's a very expensive art form, form of expression, where it's incredible that a child, even a four-year-old, can borrow their parent's phone and express themselves and maybe that opens their mind to creativity or visual expression.

So I like the level of equity that it brings to the creative world.

And also, if you really get into it, then you can advance on to a more professional level of vision.

I think the only part that I would say, I would encourage people to live more in the experience unless they need that photograph.

Like, when you go to a concert and you gotta take all these pictures.

Like, why don't you just enjoy the experience?

But that's just my opinion.

- Yeah, let's not be on our cellphones all the time, right?

- Yeah, but I do think it's an incredible tool, especially for children, to grow up in a more creative atmosphere.

- You display some of your work online and on social media.

Tell me about the experience doing that.

- I was made to do that by my agent when all this stuff happened.

She said, "You need to be on social media in order to promote yourself."

And I said, "Well, I can't write, I'm not funny, so I'll just post pictures."

And that's what I've done.

And it's been interesting because I've met people all around the world and made a lot of interesting connections.

A lot of my clients like to follow and see what I'm doing, whether in a gallery or professionally.

And so it's been a positive experience.

I think it's really kept a lot of connections with, like, I teach in Italy and I've taught in Mexico and I've taught in Cuba and I have a lot of international friends and we're able to communicate visually and so it's been very powerful for me.

- On the flip side, in this digitally obsessed world, tell me your thoughts about the value of a museum display of this work.

- Okay, well, I'm gonna put them, I'm gonna put your iPhone versus your museum.

So when people are on the phone, they're just flicking through pictures and it's like eating candy.

You know, it's not like experiencing a narrative.

When you come into a museum and you see a print, you're gonna feel the narrative of this project.

I would equate it to seeing a movie in a theater versus watching it on your TV.

There's distractions.

You're not 100% owning it.

You're not focused.

But this gives an opportunity for the narrative and the concept, which is much greater than the individual photographs.

On a phone, you're just looking at images, you're not necessarily feeling the narrative, but a museum gives you the content that whoever's creating the work that's in the museum is expressing.

And when you're in the museum, it's really a platform to reach deeper into someone's soul.

- Paul, thank you so much for spending some time with us today.

- Thank you, it was a great pleasure.

(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) - As we continue exploring the heartland, I am so pleased to have with us the executive director of the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Hillary Esser.

Hillary, thank you so much for being with us.

- Thank you.

Thank you for having us.

- It is wonderful to be here and to actually be in the exhibit as we are talking.

Tell me how you came to book this show.

- The great thing about how this show came to be is that we first came to know Paul, you know, he moved down here and started spending time in Mount Vernon and we came to know him and, you know, his portfolio and his work, I mean, really speak for themselves.

And it was through conversation that he started telling us about this project that he wanted to do and it was of great interest to us.

And we said we would really love to show this exhibit.

And so then it was a matter of kind of looking at our timeline and our exhibition schedule and somehow it just fell into place so beautifully as we, you know, learned about his concept and what he was gonna do with the "Visions of Us" and showcasing the people of southern Illinois, and we said, "This would be the perfect show to kick off our 50th anniversary year."

And so, you know, then we really got down to brass tacks and said, "We want this show in, you know, the main gallery when we kick off the 50th anniversary year."

And so that's really how it came to be.

- It's hard to do this, but tell me about a couple of your favorite portraits.

- Well, that's just a completely unfair question because as you've seen, you know, there is just so much quality and so many wonderful photographs in this exhibit.

But I do have a few standouts.

There's one in the back of the gallery called "Renewed Wellness," and the way that Paul has captured the personality of that woman is just beautiful, and I want to be her best friend.

I really want to know her.

I'm gonna ask him to put me in contact with her.

There's another one called "Titans," you know, that depicts four firefighters.

And, you know, their strength and dedication really shines through in the way that Paul has captured that.

And so I just think it's a beautiful tribute to the work that they're doing, you know, serving our community.

And then the compilation of photos I think is just so beautifully done.

There are a couple in there that stand out to me.

There's a young family, you know, that I really relate to because I have two young girls of my own.

And then there's a photograph of an artist and the way that he has composed that shot with some of her brushes in the foreground and just in her studio space I think really captures the essence of who that woman is.

And so it is hard to pick a favorite.

I really can't, but there are some standouts for sure.

And I'm hopeful that that's what everyone will find when they walk through the gallery, is that there will be some photographs that really call to them, you know, for one reason or another.

- Tell me what it means to you to have this show as part of your 50th anniversary.

- Well, as I mentioned, you know, as people walk through the gallery, I think it's going to be easy for them to find a photograph, a subject that they can relate to.

And so for us, what made this the perfect fit to kick off our 50th anniversary year, which we did in November of 2023.

I think that, you know, showcasing the people that we serve, we want all people to feel welcome at Cedarhurst.

And so for them to walk into this gallery and to see themselves on the wall, you know, to see someone on the wall that they can relate to that is celebrated, you know, in that way, I think that's why it's so important for this to be part of our 50th anniversary year because we always want people to feel welcome here at Cedarhurst, all walks of life, all type of people.

And so to really showcase them and celebrate them through this exhibit is a way for us to then celebrate our history and our purpose here in southern Illinois.

- I'm glad you did it.

It's a beautiful exhibit.

- Well, I really can't take credit.

We have such wonderful curators here at the museum.

You know, Rusty Freeman and Carrie Stover really championed this exhibit.

Working with Paul Elledge I think has just been such a beautiful process and just really getting to see him work and see his vision come to life has been so gratifying for all of us.

- Hillary, thank you for being here.

- Thank you for having us.

- And that is "Exploring the Heartland."

I'm Fred Martino.

Again, this exhibit runs through December 2023, but preserved forever in this program, and that's thanks to your support.

Thank you to everyone who makes our preservation of arts and culture possible with your donations.

I'm Fred Martino.

Have a great week.

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