The Great Good Place

By John Goerke
Contributing Writer

At a photo exhibit, the plan usually includes 2-3 minutes viewing each photograph, followed by a mental critique. All too often photographs are forgotten the moment they pass out of view. But occasionally a collection will reach somewhere deeper. Not simply pass through the senses but instead stimulate them.

The latest of these rare and wonderful exhibits exists right now in Dan Francis’s “Fargo: Past and Present.” Because the exhibit revolves around a Downtown you’re familiar with, it is very easy get attached to a photo, to imagine yourself present in the work.

“Fargo: Past and Present” is a comparison exhibit, between the Fargo of today and historical Fargo. Thankfully, There are no lines of demarcation in the photographs. Past and present comparison photographs usually have the past photograph on the left and the present on the right, with a hard line drawn right down the middle. The effect is harsh and unappealing. The message is that history is far off, inaccessible.

Dan’s photographs instead erase the present to reveal the hidden past. There are no lines in his work. Rather, the past and the present are blended.

An old Ford Model A is obstructed by a modern traffic light. Streetcars drive across the modern grass.

The old Strauss building burns down as the present Royal Jewlers sign keeps watch from the other side of the street.

The scene is on modern Broadway, yet there is something out of place. A Japanese submarine on display in the 1940s sits right under the gaze of the skyway. The sub was on tour around the United States to gain donations to the war effort.

A large set of modern stone bleachers overlooks a 1940s swimming pool. The swimmers are dressed in a modest style appropriate to the times. The swimmers in the photo are wearing more conservative clothing than many people today would wear around town, much less in the water.

The remains of the Waldorf Hotel are a ghostly image hovering above the present LJA Architects and Engineers Building. All that grandeur and elegance can only be found in this photograph and in the memories of those who were there.

Dawn Morgan, the founder of the Spirit Room where the exhibit is displayed, remembers. She grew up in Fargo. “There’s only about 1/8th of it left today.” she said with a tone of regret. She calls old Downtown the “Great Good Place.”

“There used to be three places that mattered to people,” she said. “There were their homes, their jobs and then one other place they would go to feel welcome and have fun.”

Downtown Fargo was always that place. It was a place where the citizens of Fargo would come to shop and talk to one another. It was a place to belong.

The 60s saw the decline of Downtown and the forced ascent of the suburbs. The prevailing mentality was that a city center was a thing of the past. Downtown Fargo saw buildings knocked down and paved over for parking. New buildings were in a more modern style, clashing with the original design of the city. The Great Good Place slowly seeped away.

Dan Francis’s grandparents lived in Fargo and his mother grew up just a few blocks from downtown. They remember the pool. They remember the Carnegie Library, which is now a parking lot. Dan’s grandfather enjoyed the best popcorn he’d ever eaten in the Fargo Theater.
Dan’s started looking at old photographs of Fargo. He asked himself where the photographer stood. Initial curiosity turned into a project. As he began to compile and create the exhibit he found each exact spot from which to take the photograph.

At its core, Fargo: Past and Present is a conversation starter. The familiarity of the locations combined with the varied personal experiences of those who view them, should lead to many great discussions of Fargo.

Gather as many of your family and friends as you can and head to the Spirit Room, 111 Broadway. Any preconceptions you have will be met and exceeded.

Visit hpr1.com to hear the podcast of an exclusive interview with photographer Dan Francis about the exhibit and his thoughts about Fargo.

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If You Go

What: Fargo Past and Present
Where: Spirit Room
When: Through Sept 30
Info: 701.237.0230.