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My name is Mike Hess. I live in Grand Forks, ND and work as a photographer at the University of North Dakota. I have lived in Grand Forks for the majority of my life, except for about four years when I lived in Bozeman, MT while going to college. Growing up in one of the most rural areas of the US has shaped what I see as subjects. I have been influenced greatly by Walker Evans, Joel Meyerowitz, and Stephen Shore. Last year I dove back into film photography after about 15 years away from it. All submitted photos were shot on a Mamiya C3 with various lenses. I use either Ilford FP4+ or Portra 160. I spent a big part of last year working on a project where I sought out rural post offices and documenting them. I felt the Postal Service was villainized this last year. With small towns getting smaller, their reliance on regular mail is more important than ever. The mail-related images are excerpts from that project, which I made into a Zine. The others were captured while exploring the small towns of eastern North Dakota.
website: mikehess.photos
insta: @mikehessphotography
twitter: @fotohess