WAUPUN — Prints of local photography from Randall Scott Vollmer were on display in the Fine Arts Gallery upstairs at the Waupun Public Library.
His prints have been on display at the Library since January 31, replacing the previous gallery of paintings by Justine Port.
A reception for the gallery was held March 20, from 6PM to 7:30PM, for Randall to discuss his photography with attendees.
Vollmer has lived in Waupun since about 2002 when he moved here to be closer to his job at the prison. He previously lived in Mayville but felt the commute was getting too long, and has remained in the community even since he retired four years ago.
“After I retired I started going hiking and exploring and stuff more and I started taking pictures with my phone,” Vollmer said. “I became kind of a prisoner to my phone when I started using that because it’s so convenient. And then one day the wife says to use that camera that I got as a gift a few years ago. I went outside, I took a picture with the phone, and then I took a picture of the same thing in the same distance with a camera—and it’s like a night and day difference.”
As a former prison worker, he had a considerable amount of overtime and did not have the time to take up a hobby until after retirement.
“Really, I sort of reintroduced myself to the camera because it’s been a few years,” he said. “I started going out a little bit and taking pictures. Then, I started going out darn near every day, I guess, hour—two hours a day. I’m pretty much out every time to do a lot of sunset pictures, landscapes, and animals. It’s mostly landscapes, but I’m going to get more animals, probably barns and stuff too.”
“But now, I’ve got to the point where I’ve always got two cameras with me. Sometimes I’ve got four. It’s a kind of therapy, it relaxes me.”
Vollmer regularly posts his pictures to Wisconsin-themed photography Facebook groups, which are often shared to groups about Waupun. Most of his pictures are nature and landscapes, with many pictures of the world-famous The End of the Trail located at Shaler Park. One of his photos of a train during a snowstorm this winter was featured by Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin.
After posting some of his pictures he began to get people asking if he sold prints, and after enough requests he put some together and will put them on display.
“I just made a couple prints and I sell them if they ask, or I could do canvases for them and stuff. Basically I just do it for a fun hobby, but if I can make money to buy more gear, which I’m probably wearing out with how many clicks on putting out tonight, I know I’m gonna probably need new gear quick.”
Vollmer also said that he was planning to display more of his prints at the Dodge County Arts Center in Beaver Dam in the next few weeks.
The gallery upstairs at the Waupun Public Library will be up until March 26, when they will be cleared out for the next artist.
