Brad Zellar
| Brad Zellar | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 16, 1961 |
| Occupation | Writer, journalist |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Genre | Photography, American history |
| Relatives | Martin Zellar |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
Brad Zellar (born November 16, 1961) is an American author and journalist. Zellar's writing often is accompanied by photographs; he has collaborated several times with photographer Alec Soth. The Coen brothers film A Serious Man, nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Picture, took some inspiration for the visuals based on Zellar's book the Suburban World: The Norling Photos. His book Conductors of the Moving World was named in TIME's "Best of 2011: The Photobooks We Loved," and was the recipient of the 2012 Photography for Design Professional Award from D&AD (British Design & Art Direction).
Zellar described his childhood as having grown up in "a very active and loving family" as well as being a fairly "social kid". At the same time, he notes that much of his work was inspired from his "lonely" adolescence despite having been in an always "crowded house". The desire for "privacy and solitude" brought about his affection for isolation amongst the "gravel roads surrounded by fields, and I loved to make that walk and have that feeling, that realization that it wasn't hard at all to disappear in this huge country". That realization, and his attention to "invisible people on the sidewalks of [Minneapolis]", largely influences his books. Jim Walsh summarized, "For 20 years, Zellar has made a career out of ferreting out some of the most fascinating characters that Minnesota’s margins has to offer."
Zellar attended Banfield Elementary School in Austin, Minnesota. His father was a mechanic who owned a repair shop in Hollandale, Minnesota. Zellar noted that the 1985 Hormel strike deeply affected his hometown and ultimately his interests in covering the American Rust Belt.
Zellar is a Twin Cities journalist and author of several photography books. He has worked as a writer for the City Pages, the Utne Reader, and as literary critic and senior editor for The Rake. He has collaborated with Alec Soth on a number of books and photography projects such as The LBM Dispatches (Little Brown Mushroom). These dispatches include a series on Ohio, upstate New York, Michigan, California, Colorado, and Texas. The work focuses on a wide range of subjects, often characterized as “North American ramblings” ranging from the subject matter of individuals who live "off the grid" to the "Louisiana Goth scene".
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