Dawn Vogel enjoys diverse people, cultures

“I’m fascinated with people and documenting cultures,” says photographer Dawn Vogel. Since graduating with a degree in studio arts and photography from the University of Minnesota seven years ago, Vogel hasn’t let moss grow under her feet. From the Peace Corps in Africa to France, Thailand, Hong Kong and points south of the U.S. border, she’s been on a quest for what news recurs in her conversation: culture, rich diversity, and the human spirit. Several trips produced her first exhibit, The Colorful Spirit of Mexico.

“When I go anywhere I don’t go to the resort areas,” she says, “I go where the people live. They might be street vendors in the resorts. I’m reflecting the people I’ve met in their day-to-day life and surroundings”

Vogel’s pictures are framed to echo the tropical pastels of Latin architecture. But her images are disconcertingly generic. Like the lack of specific stories about all the people she says she “connected” with or that “There’s really no photographer that comes to mind as an influence,” there’s something bland about most of the show. Her beach photos could be five-for-a-dollar postcards from any hot “get away.” Ruins are travel guide illustrations. But her portraits coupled with her stated views present a classic example of the multicultural tourist.

“I’ve seen people living in the poorest conditions,” Vogel asserts, cheerfully bubbling the story of her travels. “In Africa, people lived in mud and straw. Their bathroom was a hole in the ground outside. Tattered clothes.” Then, growing suddenly serious, she asserts her beliefs: “But the people have the richest spirit and joy, community and celebrations! Poverty doesn’t matter. Poverty was difficult to see from my own perspective as a Westerner. But I thought, It’s not all about money—as long as people have food, community, shelter, mother nature all around. In Mexico the ocean’s right there.”

The people in Vogel’s pictures might define it as not having basics like clean drinking water. Poverty matters to the mothers Vogel photographed when many of their children die from easily preventable diseases because healthcare isn’t affordable. Vogel’s exhibit has plenty of cute children, but she never asks why eight-year-olds are street vendors and not in school. Her aim is simply “To capture their beauty on film.” The results are a collection of souvenirs, as is confirmed by Vogel’s own words.

“Every time I go to a new country, experience a new culture, I’m enriched. A new kind of music, a new way to prepare food . . . I integrate these experiences into my life by incorporating all this into how I dress, the foods I enjoy, the music I have.”
Vogel does work skillfully in natural light. There is one exquisite image in the exhibit (ironically without people), a twilight view through four ancient arches overlooking the sea. There’s an elegant serenity there, indicating Vogel might do better to point her camera at landscapes rather than people.

Dawn Vogel supports herself doing diversity training for various companies
“I do the work and do the photography because I want to create a new appreciation of peoples in the world. The way I feel traveling is like someone who really, really loves animals and has the opportunity to go to the biggest zoo. And you’re amazed how many different lions there are, all the colors of the birds. That’s what my journey has been.”

The exhibit runs through May 31 at The Resource Center of the Americas, 3019 Minnehaha Ave. S., Minneapolis. (612) 226-0788.

Response from Dawn Vogel: The Real Dawn Vogel Stands Up