A conversation with Paul Horsted

Paul Horsted has been a photographer in the Black Hills area for many years. His work in photography and book publishing wonderfully depicts the beauty and history of South Dakota.

How did you get started in the photography business?

“I started long ago in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I was on the Argus Leader — the newspaper over there — worked at a weekly paper before that in high school, and then found my way to the Department of Tourism in Pierre. I worked there as a photographer for several years and then went freelance about 30 years ago. So, I’ve been doing all kinds of different work, but fell into book publishing with my wife, Camille, and she does all the graphic design, and we send these to a printer and make our way selling these throughout the Black Hills and now really cross-country with some of the work we’ve done in national parks and so on.”

What is your creative niche in the Black Hills?

“It’s this idea, you know, then and now or yesterday and today, as we call it. And basically, I’m looking at an old picture that I get for museums or archives or my own collections, and then I try to find the site of that photo and then put my camera exactly where that photographer did, you know, 140 years ago, or maybe a little less now. So, we look at, you know, early mining, history, tourism, all the themes that you see in the Black Hills as well as other places now where I’ve taken this type of work.”

How do you find the exact location for each photograph?

“The research on looking for the old photo sites varies, but Google Earth is really helpful. It’s surprising what you can kind of zoom in on sometimes. I’m not saying that’s the only way to do it or that makes it easy, but you can see the background. If you can see the background, see some mountains and it’s like, ‘Okay, now I know within a couple of miles where this guy was,’ and then you can gradually work your way to the foreground and sometimes you’ll find the same tree stump or the same rocks that are in the old picture.”

What’s a project you’re currently working on?

“I’m working on a book right now that’ll take it across the state of South Dakota, small towns and cities and landmarks all across the state. But I’ve also done a book about 24 national parks. We’ve got five books out, not all exactly in this theme, but a lot of it is, as I call it, ‘repeat photography,’ where I’m trying to occupy the site of a historic photo and see what’s changed, see what’s, stayed the same. You don’t realize you’re driving right through, you know, a campsite of the Custer expedition, for example, or even in the town of Custer up in Deadwood, you’re walking the same the same sidewalk, same streets, I mean, the same locations, different sidewalks, different streets as people were doing back in 1876. That’s what I really find appealing. It’s like a treasure hunt every time I track one of these down.”

For more information about Paul Horsted’s work, or to purchase one of his books, visit his website here.