Meet this Photographer: Norman Mauskopf

How many photographers do you know who started their career as an economist at the

Federal Reserve Board? How many economists do you know who have won the Eugene

Smith Fellowship? Meet rare-bird Norman Mauskopf. I’ve been mesmerized by Norman’s transcendent pictures for years, but when I saw his pictures in-person at the

@obscuragallerysf in Santa Fe, I knew I had to spread the gospel.

His exhibit, “The Descendants” focused on the pictures Norman made while shooting in New Mexico, an area that ripples with complicated cultural cross-currents. His pictures capture celebrations, cars, people, and a rural way of life, but there’s something else: a quiet thread of spirituality you can’t exactly see but you can certainly feel.

Norman spent 10 years shooting “The Descendants”—typical for his projects. How does he prep? “I try to absorb as much as I can about the subject, not just from other photographers, but filmmakers, artists, authors, poets, playwrights, performers, musicians, and most importantly, the history of a people and a place.” When I asked him about what goes into an interesting image, he told me this: “For me, it needs to convey a combination of tragedy, humor, irony, beauty, mystery. Mystery is the key ingredient.”

Young photographers often tell me they’re worried they don’t have the skills to go pro.

Norman revealed a little about where he got one of the skills that’s been key for him:

“When I was young, I helped out in our family grocery store where I had to ‘be nice to the customers.’ Acquiring the ability to converse with all kinds of people about all manner of subjects turned out to be the most valuable skill a documentary photographer could have learned.”

The first 5 frames below are from the Obscura Gallery exhibit; the next two are from his book about the Delta; the final pictures are from his Rodeo work.

For the camera curious: “In the Leica I discovered the perfect tool I needed to make

‘interesting pictures’ like the photographers I admired.”