Photographic continuum: a peer through time

By Kim McDarison 

Whitewater Arts Alliance Board of Directors member Jeff McDonald likes photography. 

He has served as the chairperson of the annual Fran Achen photography exhibition for nine years, and while, he said, he did not know Achen, he has found a connection to the late photographer through their mutual love of photography. 

The 14th Annual Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition opens Saturday, July 1. 

A preview of the exhibition, which is installed in the Whitewater Arts Alliance’s gallery in the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center, was made available Thursday afternoon, following the alliance’s most recent Savory Sounds concert which featured the 132 Army Band of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. 

The event marked the second in the summertime series which pairs musical performances with onsite opportunities to purchase lunch from a local vendor. 

Seated in the gallery during Thursday’s preview, McDonald shared his thoughts about the evolution of the show, his development as an amateur photographer, and some history about Achen and the alliance’s desire to continue a show in his name. 

McDonald said founding members of the arts alliance began the exhibition in 2009, which was just a few years after Achen died, in 2004. 

“Fran was a local photographer. He was a (Whitewater) high school teacher and he had a studio in Whitewater at one point,” McDonald said. 

The Achen collection 

McDonald recalled that a collection of Achen’s photographic images were donated to the Whitewater Historical Society and the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library sometime around a sesquicentennial celebration held in the city. 

With help from the assistant director of the Irvin L. Young Memorial Library, Diane Jaroch, a history of the collection emerged: according to information published in the Whitewater Register in the summer of 1987, as part of the city’s sesquicentennial celebration, an exhibit of Achen’s work, titled: “A Long Look at Whitewater,” was held in the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Crossman Gallery. 

Within the library’s archives, Jaroch found a news clipping, printed in 1989, which stated that Achen had donated more than “$4,210 worth” of historical prints of Whitewater and the surrounding area to the city’s historical society and library. The clipping noted that Achen, after his show in 1987, donated 210 prints to the city, bringing his total donation of prints made available for public viewing to 370. Not all of the pieces in his collection were his own work. The clipping featured a photo of Whitewater taken in April of 1881. Achen was born in 1916. 

In addition, Jaroch’s research located a story in the Whitewater Register, printed in January of 1987, noted that the “A Long Look at Whitewater” exhibit was placed on display that January, featuring 150 images of Whitewater, at a then-business in the community called Commercial Bank. The story noted that Achen “got the idea to make a collection of old time photographs” after “a discussion of Whitewater’s sesquicentennial.” Among  prints within the collection, the story noted, were “some he took and others that were given to him by people here.” 

Who was Fran Achen? 

According to the “Find a Grave” website, Frances “Fran” Moses Achen was born Dec. 7, 1916, in Kenosha County. He is buried in the Hillside Cemetery, Whitewater. He died on Jan. 4, 2004 at the age of 87. 

Information provided by Ancestors, Family Search, notes that Achen married Lydia Emma Nickos on Dec. 27, 1941, in Whitewater. 

Information provided through geni.com describes Achen during his life as a photographer of “renown” in both the Whitewater and University of Wisconsin-Whitewater communities. 

According to the site, Achen was raised in Kenosha and was a graduate of Kenosha High School. He next, in 1938,  began attending classes at the Wisconsin State Teachers College at Whitewater, where he became a roving photographer and served as a reporter for the Royal Purple. 

In 1941, Achen received a bachelor’s degree, majoring in geography. He married a college classmate in 1941. 

After World War II, the narrative reports, he “returned to Whitewater,” where, between 1946 and 1956, he operated a portrait studio. He next joined the faculty at Whitewater High School where he taught history and geography. 

He is also credited as the “official game photographer” for the UW-Whitewater Warhawks football team, enjoying that role for 20 years and ending his tenure in that capacity in 1984. He was inducted into the Warhawk Hall of Fame in 2000. 

The full narrative about Achen is here: https://www.geni.com/people/Francis-Achen/1883723. 

Evolution of the show 

On Thursday, McDonald, surrounded by more than 80 photographic works, said during his tenure as chairperson, the show has evolved. 

During previously held shows, he borrowed some of the photographs from the Fran Achen collection and displayed them in the arts alliance’s gallery, he said.  

Last year, the show included 25 pieces from the collection, he added. 

McDonald said he looks forward each year to organizing the show. 

“I like photographs, and I like being a photographer, and talking to other photographers, and I like showing their work,” he said. 

He particularly looks forward to the annual show’s opening reception. This year, the reception will be held Sunday, July 2, at the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center, 402 W. Main St., Whitewater, beginning at 1 p.m.

During the reception, an awards presentation will be held.

McDonald, an IT professional and accountant, describes himself as an amateur photographer. 

In the early 2000s, he said, he found that his life’s obligations were changing in a way that made room for a hobby. His interests drew him to digital photography just as the medium, and digital cameras, were becoming popular, he said.  

“They were just starting to supersede film,” he noted. 

In 2006, McDonald said he purchased his first professional quality camera, a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II. 

He found himself drawn to shooting landscapes. 

Today, he said, he most enjoys creating images in black and white, and while he said he enjoys shooting a variety of subjects, his favorite photos tend to exhibit images in high contrast. 

Before he became chairperson of the Fran Achen exhibition, he would enter his work in the show, and he won Best of Show two year in a row, he said. 

As he progresses as a hobbyist, McDonald said he has come to appreciate the Canon system. On Thursday, he was carrying an EOS R6 mirrorless camera, which, he noted, was one of five Canon camera bodies he uses. 

Once he became chairperson of the Fran Achen exhibition, his focus was on building the show and attracting other artists, he said. 

While the show has been a popular Whitewater Arts Alliance staple, when the COVID pandemic arrived in 2020 and 2021, McDonald said, it underwent some changes. 

There was a decline in people looking to engage with the exhibition, he said, adding: “In the aftermath of COVID, it was really hard to put up a show. People did not want to come to the gallery. In 2020 and 2021, we started using the virtual show idea, with a gallery show and a virtual show running at the same time.” 

The format —with in-gallery and virtual shows running concurrently — remains in place in 2023. 

This year, he said, the show is again experiencing growth. With some 145 entries made, different from past shows, not every entry submitted is included. 

“It’s a juried competition,” McDonald said. 

This year, space within the gallery necessitated a decision. Some 83 pieces, representing 35 photographers are on display.  

While in past years, McDonald said he was honored to be able to exhibit every entry, space limitations this year precipitated a new decision; one, he said, he believes will enhance the flavor of the show and attract a different group of artists to future shows. 

“Accomplished artists look for juries shows and they seem to feel more confident when exhibiting their work in juried shows,” McDonald said.  

The judging process 

Among reasons he no longer enters his own work in the show, McDonald said, as chairperson, he is involved with the judging process. 

“I’m not a judge, but I know whose images are whose,” he said, adding that his piece of the process includes digitizing the images and assigning them random numbers so the judges do not know which artist has submitted each piece. 

McDonald said this year’s two judges, Gerald Emmerich, Jr. and Steve Heraly, are both recognized and accomplished photographers, and both have judged the show in the past. 

Emmerich, a resident of East Troy, has been a member of the Photographic Society of America (PSA) since 1979. In 2001, he was awarded PSA’s Region Director of the Year award, in 2003 he was the recipient of the Peabody Award, and in 2012 he received the PSA President’s Award.  Emmerich served on the PSA Board of Directors as PSA conventions vice president from 2003 to 2009, and as PSA secretary and member of the PSA Executive and Finance committees from 2009 to 2013.  He was awarded HonPSA honors in 2013, according to information provided by the Southwestern Michigan Council of Camera Clubs. 

He has served as a judge during the Fran Achen exhibition for at least three years, McDonald said. 

Heraly is a photographer, resident of Hubertus, and the recipient of “numerous awards,” McDonald noted, further describing him as a photographer who is affiliated with charitable causes. Heraly is returning for his second year as a Fran Achen competition judge. 

Opening reception 

During Sunday’s opening reception, Emmerich will be on hand to announce the exhibition winners as chosen by the judges and offer discussion about the works and photography in general. 

“Jerry will talk about photographs like crazy. He has judged thousands of exhibitions. He knows his stuff, and he loves to talk to people about how they can improve their photographs,” McDonald said.  

The reception offers attendees a chance to see the works, meet the artists, make connections and learn about the craft, McDonald said. 

The reception is free, open to the public, and light refreshments will be offered, according to information released by the alliance.  

Voting for a “Viewer’s Choice” award will remain open during the course of the exhibition, with a winner announced on Sunday, July 30. 

The gallery in the Whitewater Cultural Arts Center is open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. 

An earlier story, including a history of Fran Achen’s life, is here: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-fran-achen-art-exhibition-slated/. 

To view the 14th Annual Fran Achen Juried Exhibition virtually, visit: https://www.whitewaterarts.org/fran-achen-2023.