FARGO — A local photographer’s collection of stark, black-and-white images taken here in downtown are now on display for the public in the heart of that very same subject.

W. Scott Olsen’s

photos that are intended to show what it’s like to live in Fargo are being displayed at Broadway Square before public events like Movies at the Square.

He initially proposed the idea to Broadway Square manager Ana Rusness-Petersen last summer, and she jumped at the chance to showcase art by a local talent.

Olsen provided a new collection of images this summer, and he plans to refresh the set in July and again in August.

The images depict everything from portraits to weather to architecture, Olsen said, and the majority of them were taken between Roberts Street and Fifth Street North.

Even though he’s been photographing Fargo for decades,

Olsen said he’s never short on inspiration.

“I’ve lived here since 1987, so I have a familiarity with the town which aids in being able to anticipate where these photos will come along,” he said. “Street photography is a time-honored genre in photography that is really a blend of anthropology and ethnology. Above all, it is a real act of love and respect for the town I call home and a way to document what it is like to live here.”

Even with his familiarity, Olsen said he still finds himself surprised by certain photos.

“I didn’t get this shot, but I saw a woman caught in a wind storm and she was holding a batch of balloons; I wasn’t quick enough to get my camera out for that one,” he said. “One morning, the light was coming through a gap between buildings that illuminated them in a way I’d never seen before. It was all just light and shadows, but I was mesmerized.”

Other times, Olsen will see surprises in a photo after he’s taken it, like one in the current collection where the main subjects of the photo are a couple. However, once he snapped the image, Olsen saw that two people in the background appear to be a couple “disinterested in one another.”

Once he chatted with all the subjects, Olsen learned that the two people in the background “had nothing to do with each other.”

“The woman was waiting for her husband, and the guy was just walking through, yet there’s a story there in the image that I didn’t see when I shot it,” he said.

The collection is entirely in black and white — Olsen’s preferred style.

“It’s timeless, but not in the sense that the images are iconic, but rather that they are more generalized than color images,” he said.

In addition to his photography work,

Olsen teaches English and multimedia journalism

at Concordia. His work is frequently showcased throughout the community by various organizations, such as a

collection he assembled last year of ghost signs in downtown.

The next opportunity to check out Olsen’s collection will be before “Movies at the Square” on Thursday, July 6.

Danielle Teigen has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and management communication as well as a master’s degree in mass communication from North Dakota State University. She has worked for Forum Communications since May 2015, first as a digital content manager before becoming the Life section editor and then deputy editor. In 2020, Danielle recently moved back to her hometown in South Dakota, where she works remotely for Forum Communications as managing editor of On the Minds of Moms as well as writes occasional news and history stories.