Brad Zellar

Brad Zellar (born November 16, 1961) is an American author and journalist. Zellar's writing often is accompanied by photographs; he has collaborated several times with photographer Alec Soth. The Coen brothers film A Serious Man, nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture, took some inspiration for the visuals based on Zellar's book the Suburban World: The Norling Photos.^[1] His book Conductors of the Moving World was named in TIME's "Best of 2011: The Photobooks We Loved," and was the recipient of the 2012 Photography for Design Professional Award from D&AD (British Design & Art Direction).

Biography

Childhood

Zellar described his childhood as having grown up in "a very active and loving family" as well as being a fairly "social kid".^[2] At the same time, he notes that much of his work was inspired from his "lonely" adolescence despite having been in an always "crowded house".^[2] The desire for "privacy and solitude" brought about his affection for isolation amongst the "gravel roads surrounded by fields, and I loved to make that walk and have that feeling, that realization that it wasn't hard at all to disappear in this huge country".^[2] That realization, and his attention to "invisible people on the sidewalks of [Minneapolis]", largely influences his books.^[2] Jim Walsh summarized, "For 20 years, Zellar has made a career out of ferreting out some of the most fascinating characters that Minnesota’s margins has to offer."^[2]

Zellar attended Banfield Elementary School in Austin, Minnesota.^[3] His father was a mechanic who owned a repair shop in Hollandale, Minnesota.^[3] Zellar noted that the 1985 Hormel strike deeply affected his hometown and ultimately his interests in covering the American Rust Belt.^[3]

Writer

Zellar is a Twin Cities journalist and author of several photography books.^[4] He has worked as a writer for the City Pages,^[5] the Utne Reader,^[6] and as literary critic and senior editor for The Rake.^[7] He has collaborated with Alec Soth on a number of books and photography projects such as The LBM Dispatches (Little Brown Mushroom).^[8][9] These dispatches include a series on Ohio, upstate New York, Michigan, California, Colorado, and Texas.^[8][9][10] The work focuses on a wide range of subjects, often characterized as “North American ramblings” ranging from the subject matter of individuals who live "off the grid" to the "Louisiana Goth scene".^[11][12]

In 2008, Zellar wrote the Suburban World: The Norling Photos for the Minnesota Historical Society with a forward by Soth.^[4] The book was a collection of the "complete photo negative and print archive" by Irwin Norling, an engineer at Honeywell and freelance photographer for the Bloomington, Minnesota police department.^[4] The book served as the visual inspiration for the Coen brothers' feature film, A Serious Man.^[1] The film earned a Golden Globe nomination for Michael Stuhlbarg, a place on both the American Film Institute's and National Board of Review of Motion Pictures's Top 10 Film Lists of 2009, and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.^[1] The Coens, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "wanted to create the era when we grew up" and stated, "so we relied a lot on our memories," which was set in 1967 in Minnesota, the same era and location as Zellar's book.^[1]

Soth and Zellar collaborated again on Three Valleys in 2010.^[9] This was technically the fourth instalment of the LBM Dispatches located in California and centered on the Silicon Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and Death Valley.^[9] John Mahoney of American Photo Magazine noted the contrast in the landscapes as the "brave new worlds and pervasive virtuality of Silicon Valley, the Depression-era remnants of agricultural settlements and immigrant communities in the San Joaquin, and the other-worldly boom-and-bust landscapes of Death Valley, where the Manson Family holed up at the tail end of the 1960s."^[9]

Zellar also collaborated with Soth on the House of Coates that featured photographs by Lester B. Morrison.^[13] The story centres on Morrison who, during the record cold US winter of 2010/2011, stayed in hotels along U.S. Route 52.^[13] It was speculated by some that Morrison was in fact Soth, though both would later deny this and subsequently confirm they had both met Morrison.^[13]

In 2011, Zellar's book, Conductors of the Moving World was named in TIME's Best of 2011: The Photobooks We Loved.^[14] The book was the recipient of the D&AD 2012 Photography for Design Professional Award.^[15] He has also received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia, and the Minnesota Magazine and Publishing Association.^[16]

Zellar and Soth's partnership has continued with dispatches to Ohio, Texas, California, Colorado, Michigan, New York, and Georgia as part of The LBM Dispatch series.^[17]

Zellar is also a noted blogger, having been a professional blog writer for City Pages and The Rake, and having found a popular audience in Ireland and Australia, according to Margaret A. Pribel of the Minnesota Magazine and Publishing Association.^[18]

Personal life

Zellar is the brother of musician Martin Zellar. Brad appears on the cover of Martin's album Billy's Live Bait as the 'Live Bait' attendant.^[19] He is an avid collector of baseball memorabilia.^[20] Among his prized collection is a rare "1911 first edition of the book “Base Ball” by Albert Spalding" and "a ball signed by Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle".^[20] Josh Ostergaard`s book, The Devil’s Snake Curve: A Fan’s Notes from Left Field, references some of Zellar`s baseball materials.^[21]

Zellar lived for a time in Austin, Minnesota but has since moved to the Twin Cities.^[22]

Books

• Twin Cities Noir. New York: Akashic, 2006. ISBN 9781888451979. Edited by Julie Schaper and Steven Horwitz. Stories by Zellar and others.
• Suburban World: The Norling Photos. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society; Borealis, 2008. ISBN 9780873516099. Brad Zellar, Irwin D. Norling, Alec Soth.
• The 1968 Project: A Nation Coming of Age. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2011. ISBN 9780873518420. Brad Zellar, Alec Soth.
• Conductors of the Moving World. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2011. ISBN 9780615453088. Brad Zellar, Eizo Ota.
• Michigan. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. ASIN B00BT1KY14. Brad Zellar, Alec Soth.
• Ohio. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. ASIN B008ESQB4Y. Brad Zellar, Alec Soth.
• Upstate New York. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. Brad Zellar, Alec Soth.
• House of Coates. Photographs by Alec Soth and Lester B. Morrison, text by Brad Zellar.
  • Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2012. ISBN 9781199591036.
  • Coffee House, 2014. ISBN 978-1566893701.
• Aperture. New York: Aperture, 2012. ISBN 9781597112079. Brad Zellar, Melissa Harris.
• Three Valleys. Saint Paul, MN: Little Brown Mushroom, 2013. Brad Zellar, Alec Soth.

References

External links

• Official website