Photographer Wing Young Huie in his studio. Star Tribune photo by Max Becherer
by Mary Abbe
Sixty photos from Wing Young Huie's monumental "Lake Street USA" project are now Minneapolis city property.
In 2000 the Minneapolis photographer placed 600 photos of Lake Street-area residents in shops, offices and store windows along the six mile thoroughfare which stretches from the Mississippi River west to Lake Calhoun. The strip is one of the city's most ethnically and economically diverse streets, cutting through Hispanic, American Indian, black and white neighborhoods that include industrial, commercial and residential areas as well as stretches of poverty and affluence.
The Harrington Company, an association-management firm, acquired 60 of the photos when the project was finished and has donated them to the city. The black-and-white images range from poster size to six feet tall and four feet wide. The city plans to display them in municipal buildings, including city hall.
