Here’s a great idea from a great photographer: Kurt Wilson, who works for the Missoulian, is planning six one-week tours throughout Montana.
His goal is to visit all of the 250-some historical markers in Montana and to photograph whatever catches his fancy along the way. The first batch of more than 100 photos went up last week, from his driving tour of southwest Montana.
Years ago, Kurt went down to St. Petersburg, Fla., to attend a training session at the Poynter Institute, but instead of flying straight to St. Petersburg, he flew into New Orleans, I believe it was, rented a car and drove to St. Petersburg.
He took lots of photos on the trip and the Missoulian published a bunch of them, together with Kurt’s account of his trip. The angle was simple: Montana boy who’s never been in the Deep South discovers the Gulf Coast. It was brilliant and entertaining as hell.
It got me to thinking, too. It took me a while, but I finally conceived of my own journalistic excursion — a weeklong trip with photographer David Grubbs from Yaak to Alzada, which later turned into a weeklong series of stories and photos about people and places.
Now Kurt’s at it again, just as I’m mapping out my own forays into the vast expanses of Eastern Montana. I can’t wait to see what he finds over in our part of the state.
