photography

In 1940, Works Progress Administration workers took photos of every building in Kansas City — houses, restaurants, shops, gas stations and more. Kansas City Public Library maintains more than 50,000 of the images, and a new website is making them easier than ever to browse.

Midwest Film Company in Wichita processes filmstock for photographers and cinematographers around the U.S. — and even pop stars like Megan Thee Stallion. Owner Justin Cary started the business in 2019 with a setup in his kitchen.

Robert Benecke captured 19th-century western Kansas landscapes before massive European migrations to the area transformed them. In the intervening years, the dust bowl, mass extinction of bison, and expansion of mechanized agriculture have all led to a profusion of trees, ponds and lakes across the Sunflower State.

Jeff Jacobsen spent decades as a photojournalist and as a photographer for University of Kansas athletics. Since he retired in 2020, he's been working on a project to capture images of sports in all 105 counties in Kansas — and he's almost done.

Megan Karson is heading out on the open road this summer. She’ll spend the next three months making dreamy tintype images of the people she meets at pop up events in Montana and the Pacific Northwest.

Ivan McClellan's new photobook, “Eight Seconds,” documents the Black riders, ropers and rodeo queens encountered in dusty arenas around the United States. McClellan's love for the sport and subculture led him to start his own rodeo in Portland, Oregon, where he lives.

At the Kansas City Museum, a new exhibit organized by Kansas City nonprofit reStart Inc. shows photos, videos and stories by photographer Randy Bacon that capture the unexpected circumstances that led local residents to homelessness and the resilience that helps some find their way out.

Production of utility-scale solar power in Kansas is expected to increase 34 times over in the next four years. But many rural Kansas communities are skeptical of out-of-state developers. Plus: A writer and photographer return to Independence, Missouri, 40 years after documenting daily life in the city.

While many soldiers carried rifles in Vietnam, Chip Osborn carried a camera, and was charged with leading a team of soldiers to capture images of the war. This Veterans Day, Osborn will share photos from his deployment at the National WWI Museum and Memorial.

Dan White and Brent Schondelmeyer first embarked on a project to document life and history in Independence, Missouri, in 1985. Almost 40 years later, the two are back at work on new words and photographs of people living in the shadow of a president.

"A Survey of Elemental Gratitude," an exhibition currently at the Kansas City Public Library, showcases the beauty of the Flint Hills— and asks us to consider its environmental future. Philip Heying's photography will be on display until December 9.

Prairie landscape used to occupy broad swaths of Kansas, but only a fraction of the original ecosystems remain. A central Kansas photographer hopes his new exhibition will sound the alarm for this ecological emergency. Plus: The Kansas City Latin Jazz Orchestra celebrates 20 years of fostering cross-cultural appreciation.