The Leica Society is proud to announce the recipient of the second annual LHSA Photography Grant: Mark Kauzlarich. The announcement was made during the annual meeting in Wetzlar, Germany, home of Leica AG, at the Saturday night closing banquet. Mark will receive the LHSA Grant in the amount of $5,000. He was chosen from over sixty grant proposals, submitted from all over the globe. LHSA wishes to thank the Photography Grant committee and our distinguished jury, Maggie Steber, Craig Semetko, and Peter Turnley for making this special event possible.
Originally from Wisconsin, Mark Kauzlarich is a New York City-based documentary photographer and National Geographic Explorer. His recent work focuses on isolation and marginalization in the United States, with a special interest in the rural Midwest. In 2018, he was twice nominated for the Remi Ochlik Award and was a winner of the 2018 Magenta Foundation Flash Forward. He holds a Master’s of Arts in Journalism from the University of Missouri and dual Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Middle East Studies from the University of Wisconsin. In 2015, Mark interned at The New York Times. He is a contributor to an originator of the hashtag for Everyday Rural America. Mark has contributed to the following publications and clients: The New York Times, TIME, CNN, Reuters, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The Weather Channel, The New York Times Lens Blog, TIME Lightbox, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and Die Zeit.
The McFarthest Place Project
“The McFarthest Place” documents the social, economic, and political reality of the disappearing rural Midwest. In Perkins County, SD, recently the furthest point in America from a McDonald’s, a comical metric belies devastating issues. People aren’t just 145 miles from McDonald’s but also from medical specialists, mental health care, affordable groceries, higher education, and jobs. These issues, factors of decades of national urbanization, drive population loss in rural America – 73.7% in Perkins County in 110 years – threatening the community-oriented nature of rural society, fostering fear, cultural and political isolation.
Below are a few of the images from his project, The McFarthest Place for which he will use the grant funds to further develop and bring to publication.
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- 45¼25’37.9″N, 102¼17’10.7″W. 113 miles from the nearest McDonald’s.The Arneson family and their employee Riley Cihak ride their horses through thick morning fog on their ranch in the old town of Chance, SD on July 31, 2017.
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- 45¡31’48.6″N 102¡48’17.6″W. 107 miles from the nearest McDonald’s.A McDonalds trailer sits in a field outside in the small town of Prairie City, SD on July 31, 2017.
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- 45¼19’04.0″N, 102¼10’43.9″W. A small number of America Plains Bison are seen through the cracked windshield of rancher Jamie Hepper’s pickup truck in Meadow, SD on April 12, 2018.
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- 45¼44’23.0″N 102¼13’06.9″W, A deer crosses the road at the Shadehill Recreation Area near the spot where frontiersman Hugh Glass was mauled, inspiring the movie ÒThe Revenant,” south of Lemmon, SD on October 6, 2017.
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- 45¼33’14.2″N, 102¼30’36.1″W. Eliza Blue holds her daughter Emmy as her son Wesley closes his eyes and feels the coming storm winds on his face as they stand near an abandoned farmhouse on their leased land in Bison, SD.
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- 45¼29’43.2″N 102¼19’59.6″W. A group of men sit down around the dinner table for a meal of soup and sandwiches as they take a break from shearing sheep in the 20 degree weather and substantial winds at the Kronberg ranch in Meadow, SD on April 7, 2018.
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- 45¼31’58.9″N, 102¼15’19.0″W. Scott Storm swings a rope as he practices team roping with his friend Kenny Kocer at Kocer’s ranch in Meadow, SD.
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- 45¡30’35.5″N 102¡13’48.2″W. Jessica Lawson holds the war bridle on Fred the horse as her boyfriend Shane Yalowizer goes to get ready for a swim on his ranch in Meadow, SD on July 28, 2017.
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- 45¼32’31.3″N 102¼29’52.1″W. Sion Hanson sits in a neighbor’s home and drinks coffee before dinner in Bison, SD on April 6, 2018.
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- 45¡31’54.3″N 102¡15’32.6″W. Kenny Kocer pauses in a clearing of trees as he tracks a skunk he shot on his land in Meadow, SD.
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- 45¡23’03.5″N 102¡34’14.8″W. Khayne Vanderpool relaxes after weaning calves on the five generation Besler family ranch east of Bison, SD.
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- 45¡31’30.0″N 102¡28’11.9″W. People stand for the national anthem before the start of the Perkins County Rodeo in Bison, SD on August 5, 2017.
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- 45¡31’27.4″N 102¡28’11.2″W. Cowboys compete in a ranch rodeo at the Perkins County Fairgrounds in Bison, SD.
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- 45¡26’49.9″N 102¡10’07.6″W. Parishioners pray while worshiping at Coal Springs church in Meadow, SD.
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- 45¡31’52.6″N 102¡07’55.2″W. A bone pile is stacked high on Audrey Lorius’ family ranch about 5 miles outside of Meadow, SD.
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- 45¼31’59.1″N, 102¼15’20.5″W. Scott Storm and his son Travis, 12, relax after practicing team roping as Kenny Kocer puts away a saddle in his saddle shop on his ranch in Meadow, SD.
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