Blazing Photos
photographer chronicles Wisconsin deer hunting
Steve Freuhauf, photos by Travis Dewitz |
Out with his debut publication titled, Blaze Orange, Eau Claire photographer Travis Dewitz is not only taking the Chippewa Valley by storm, but now the entire nation. His lavish photo book takes a look at the deep traditions of northern Wisconsin’s deer hunting season. Due to positive response, the book’s distribution went national.
Dewitz said the idea originated two years ago when he was seeking a new personal project to begin. While he said the theme of tradition lead him to choose the project, he also admitted it had been a while since he had last been out hunting. “Even if you’re not a hunter, you know someone that does or people in your family do,” Dewitz said. “It’s such a big part of our heritage. When I was doing the series, it was like eight year since the last time I hunted. I missed the feeling of hunting and I wanted to capture that nostalgia that I felt.”
He originally planned on covering two to three hunting seasons before putting the package together, but a publishing conflict only allowed for one. Still, he said he wanted to photograph these images as if they were timeless. Thus, the book includes photos depicting eras from the 1970s to the 2000s.
While he knows a couple of the hunters pictured, Dewitz said most of the people captured in Blaze Orange are strangers. They were either found through Facebook or while out in nature. He said the resounding response was what surprised him most. “I expected about 20 (or) 25 percent of people to say to say ‘yes’ and the rest of the people to say ‘no,’ ” Dewitz said. “They’re in the middle of hunting, they probably don’t want any distractions, and what really happened was every person said ‘yes.’ Everybody I contacted said ‘yes.’ I couldn’t believe it.”
Total shooting for the project took 15 days. Dewitz spent nine days in the woods and the other six going to the gun shop, taxidermist, butcher, and the family making seasonal sausage featured in the book. The book’s publisher, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, offered the photographer a contract after seeing his first season’s photos.
In addition to Blaze Orange, Dewitz has released a number of personal projects. One of his more popular surrounds the local area. Inspired by a package depicting parts of West Virginia, he said he wanted to capture Eau Claire as if he were a tourist. Dewitz said he slowed things down, changed his mindset, and toured city as if he had never seen it before. The compilation he put together was then picked up by the Chippewa Valley Museum. Along with that, he said he’s working on a number of ongoing personal projects.
“I document a lot of industrial, heavy industry-type of places like frac sands, grain elevators, logging steel, the crude oil in the Bakken region in North Dakota,” Dewitz said. “I also cover a lot of portrait work. I have a series with ballerinas, a Native American series, a Hmong heritage series, and one I’ve been dealing with a lot lately is my Alice Series.” He said this series will show the transformation from adolescence to adulthood. Everyone can relate, he said, to feeling lost at some point in their life and maturing into the real world. But he said none of these projects have a definite finish date and are works in progress.
Dewitz will sign copies of his book, Blaze Orange, at 1pm Saturday, Dec. 20, at The Local Store, 205 N. Dewey St., Eau Claire. The book is available at The Local Store as well as via blazeorangebook.com. Visit dewitzphotography.com for more on his professional work and travisdewitz.com for information on his personal projects.
