Andy KRAUSHAAR (andy.kraushaar@ccmail.adp.wisc.edu)
Fri, 19 Feb 1999 15:50:47 -0600
Eugene,
I saw your post on Alt photo and was very interested. I am a photographer and
photo archivist at the State Hist. Soc. of Wis. I've often thought it would be
interesting to photograph the Badger Plant. I would be interested in
photographing the site both from my kite and with panoramas. Is this possible?
What's the next step?
Andy Kraushaar
______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Photo Op
Author: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca > at IPNET
Date: 2/19/99 2:10 PM
There is an interesting photo op avaialable only for alt-photo list members
who can make use of it. I suppose that is the people from the middle of
the US.
About 10 miles south of me is the Badger Army Ammunition Plant which is a
7300 acre complex of explosives manufacturing buildings. The Army is
closing the plant and surplusing the property. This is a WWII plant built
in a hurry and inoperative since the late 60's. Much of it is derelect.
I know the site supervisor and he agreed when I asked if he would allow
photography on the site.
Look on your maps. It is about 40 miles north of Madison, Wisconsin on
Higway 12 between Sauk City and Baraboo. Interstate 90/94 will bring you
to within a 50 minute drive of the place.
The catches:
You cannot enter the site without careful preplanning and you cannot enter
any non occupied building without explicit permission which is not likely
to happen. You must make arrangements through me and there are no
guarantees about the weather or about the availability of the necessary
guides and escorts. Weekdays are much better than weekends. This is
Federal property and subject to Federal laws and rules.
The bonuses:
Accross the road from the plant is a terrific surplus yard with some great
stuff. Behind the surplus yard is the sculpture yard/studio of a sculptor
who makes fantastic things from industrial salvage including one piece that
Guiness will include as the worlds largest sculpture made from salvaged
materials. This is another friend of mine and he will allow endless
photography of his stuff. The catch here is he likes to get copies of your
photos and you will need some sort of permission if you are going to turn
the images into commercial products.
In my town, Baraboo, Wisconsin, is the Circus World Museum with a great
collection of circus wagons and memorabilia. Lots of color. The museum
allows photography of the wagons but I don't know their rules about
commericalization. The wagons are displayed in a big barn of a building but
we MAY be able to get the staff to roll one or two out in the sunlight if
there is any and if you promise them some images. If you think you may want
to do that bring some samples to show the director. I know him but he is
not a close friend. You may have to pay admission to the museum but it is
not very much.
Within a few miles of all of this are nature preserves, parks, and special
spots where you can find all of the standard scenes such as water over big
rocks, little narrow canyons, interesting plant shapes, eagles fishing,
boats, a river, lakes, barns, cows, farm houses, and some architectural
stuff. This last includes a theatre which is a scaled replica of a theatre
at Versailles. Some of this is in local state parks which require
admission fees.
In Madison the University operates public surplus sales on Friday mornings.
My campus has darkroom facilities for 35mm and 2 1/4 negs which would be
availble as long as it doesn't conflict with class schedules. The art
instructor would probably want you to give some workshops on technique for
students and maybe including some of the photographers in town. I know my
wife and the other high school art teachers would like their students to be
included on some of that. The High School also has a darkroom but I don't
know about its availability. We have color heads on some of our enlargers
but no chemistry, accessories, or paper. One old enlarger may be able to
handle B&W 4 by 5. I don't know what the local photographers would make
available for darkroom facilities in exchange for some coaching in
technique but I can find out since I know all three of them.
Let me know off list and we will see what can be accomodated working around
my teaching and meeting schedule, family matters, and other personal
commitments and other people's schedules. Everything except the Badger
plant, the darkrooms, and the weather is more or less guaranteed as far as
basic access is concerned without outside help. The sculpture stuff
requires some time planning but it is not generally much of a problem.
You probably should bring some images with you and we will have a little
show on my little campus. The campus gallery is booked until summer but
free then and we have other wall space.
Eugene Robkin
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