Irwin Norling, the Unknown Photographer

March 21, 2003 6:26 PM

Irwin Norling of Bloomington, Minnesota was a more modest version of Man Ray – with his family in tow, he documented crime and accident scenes for the local police. (The photo gallery is probably NSFW and not safe for delicate stomachs.) He also prolifically documented everyday Bloomington life from the 1940s through the 1980s. City Pages writer Brad Zellar (weblog) stumbled across Norling's photographic archives while visiting the historical society, tracked down the man himself, and wrote this terrific article ... unfortunately Norling passed away a month before its publication.
posted by kmel (5 comments total)

There's nothing NSFW about it, kmel. If anything, there's sort of a film-noir-ish quality to the crime scene photos that almost seem out of place. Beautiful work.
posted by PrinceValium at 6:45 PM on March 21, 2003

was a more modest version of Man Ray

kmel: I think you might have meant Weegee. Cool links regardless.
posted by gwint at 8:28 PM on March 21, 2003

For some reason, I've been getting this feeling like I might end up working as a crime scene photographer soon. Creepy something like this gets posted.

cool links indeed
posted by dogwalker at 8:35 PM on March 21, 2003

gwint: Oops, that indeed is what I meant.
posted by kmel at 9:02 PM on March 21, 2003

good article. great photos! I like 'bomb shelter movie night' the best.
posted by roboto at 7:46 AM on March 22, 2003