Finding Minnesota

• Nov 26, 2007 8:09 am US/Central
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  Finding Minnesota: Historic Cokato Photo Studio

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Finding Minnesota: Historic Cokato Photo Studio

Reporting
Bill Hudson

At the corner of Fourth Street East and Broadway Avenue South in downtown Cokato, stands a small white building with a big bronze plate. Its inscription reads, "Gust Akerlund's Photography Studio, National Historic Registry."

It was 1902 when Gust Akerlund, a Swedish immigrant, moved to Cokato and purchased the studio from a former owner.

Mike Worcester, with the Cokato Historical Society said, "The longevity of the time that he was here is pretty significant too and that's part of the reason why the site is on the national registry, because it's a wonderful representation of early 20th century photography."

For over a half century Akerlund would photograph the area's babies and brides, families and farmers, many of whom would pose in his very cramped Cokato studio, under a flood of natural light. 

"This is our archival storage area where we keep our glass plate negatives," Worcester said about a room lined with shelves.

For decades Akerlund's old glass negatives were filed away in boxes, until the Cokato Historical Society took on the task of preserving the fragile glass plates by digitizing them onto a computer.

Dave Johnson is the photo archivist who's done much of that work. "From the point of scanning each negative, the computer takes it and reverses [the image] from negative to positive and you end up with this on the computer and gorgeous photos in the exhibit area," he said.

A large sample of Akerlund's work is now printed and put on display. The gallery showing in the Cokato Historical Center is a big hit with area residents.

"You get great contrast and black and white photos hold up so much better than color photos," Worcester explains.

Akerlund captured folks in a wide variety of settings. From the serious poses of newlyweds and families to more playful moments, like a father swinging his young daughter in his arms.    

"Oh, how I would love to know who all those people are in the photographs," Worcester said. "I would be interested to know if that young lady is still alive."

Akerlund's studio remains just like he left it so many years ago. The old wood camera, the chairs and even the puppet rests near the camera which he used to grab a child's attention.
 
Walking through the studio is like taking a trip back in time through the intimate images of a master. It's a rare museum that captures both the artifacts and the art of early photography.

Worcester proudly exclaims, "you're not going to go anywhere in the upper Midwest and find another site like this."

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)