Detroit Photographer Bill Rauhauser: 2014 Eminent Artist Recipient

Photograph by © Charles Tines

The Kresge Foundation named photographer Bill Rauhauser as the recipient of this year's Kresge Eminent Artist Award. The $50,000 award is given out once a year to a single artist, who best exemplifies a longstanding contribution to the arts in the metropolitan Detroit area.

A lifelong resident of the Detroit area, Bill Rauhauser has faithfully documented the city of Detroit for sixty years now. As a body of work, Bill's photographs are an important contribution to the rich and storied history of the city of Detroit and it's people. Equally important though, is Bill's role as a teacher at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where for 30 years he created an inspirational lineage for generations of Detroit photographers who sat in his classroom.

As a teacher, Bill's credibility in the classroom was complimented by his ongoing practice as an active street photographer. Bill once told me that, "You got to be there when it happens," and Bill lived by those words: juggling a successful career as an educator, while continuing to roam the streets of Detroit with his camera in hand.  Bill didn't just teach, he taught by example, and for students, this set him apart from teachers who rambled through textbooks for the entirety of the school year.

© bill rauhauser

Along with his lifelong commitment as a photographer and educator, Bill has played an ongoing role in  the growth and recognition of photography as a serious art form in the Detroit area. In the present, photography is universally accepted and shown in museums and galleries around the globe, but prior to it's widespread appeal, there were limited venues where photography could be viewed in a public setting. This was especially true in the Midwest.

In the Midwest, most photography was confined to small independent camera clubs and the like. These clubs existed in tightly knit circles, far away from the public eye and bound by their limited scope and vision. In 1964, dissatisfied with the limitations imposed by camera clubs, Bill, along with three other camera club friends, opened up the Group 4 Gallery in Detroit, one of the first galleries in the Midwest to exclusively show photography. Although it only lasted for a period of four years, the gallery was pivotal in the growth and sustainability of a viable photographic community in the city of Detroit.

© bill rauhauser

Having established a local interest in photography, Bill would eventually convince Detroit Institute of Arts director Willis Woods of the importance of acquiring more photography for the museum's collection. At the time, the DIA lagged far behind significant museums like the Museum of Modern Art in New York, who had already established vast photographic collections since the 1940's. Along with Ellen Sharp, the DIA's graphic arts curator, Bill was instrumental in expanding the breadth of their photographic acquisitions, to include important bodies of work that were fitting to the vast encyclopedic collection of a major American museum like the DIA.

Last March, I posted a short piece on my blog regarding "Why Regional Photography Matters." In it, I spoke of the lack of attention given to regional photographers who have been largely ignored by the arbitrators of history, who place greater emphasis on photographic "heavyweights" hailing from the cultural capitals of Paris and New York. That being said, it's important to recognize that regional photographers have produced equally significant bodies of work when compared to the iconic photographers of the 20th century. Without the insight of local and regional photographers, you end up with singular narratives that fall short of balanced perspectives, that are noticeably enhanced by the imagery of those more deeply rooted in a local area. Bill Rauhauser is that photographer….the quintessential insider if there ever was one.

Congratulations Bill.

© bill rauhauser

© bill rauhauser

© bill rauhauser

© bill rauhauser