In the 'Land of 10,000 Lakes' and on the campus of the University of Minnesota, you'll find the Graduate Minneapolis Hotel. From key cards that resemble student IDs to decor that takes inspiration from Minnesotan activities like fishing, snowshoeing, and hockey, the upbeat and trendy designs of the Graduate Minneapolis playfully remind you exactly where you are.
Graduate Hotels are located in college towns across the United States, and each have their own signature, location-specific designs that make for some really engaging spaces to explore. At the Graduate Minneapolis this was reflected in bold choices, like a central chandelier made out of fishing net and lures, to kitschy additions like a vintage portrait of Loni Anderson (who was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota) that hung in my room. As a travel photographer it should surprise no one that these visual touches all won me over. My stay at the Graduate Minneapolis was A+.
With over 500 stores, 12,000 parking spaces, an indoor theme park, aquarium, and a multiplex cinema, the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is the largest shopping mall in the United States. Opened in 1992, this mega mall in the greater Minneapolis - St. Paul area is the size of 7 Yankee Stadiums and attracts over 40 million visitors a year.
For the last 10 days I've been fueling up on beer, cheese, and deep dish pizza on another incredible travel shoot, this time in the American Midwest. As always there was some general shooting happening all over the place, however a large part of this latest road trip experience was focused on capturing iconic scenes in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis.
I shared a few behind the scenes snaps on Instagram, but as is generally the case, it's really difficult to try and summarize the variety captured in the over 8K images that were shot for this project. It goes without saying that the upcoming photo sets will be stellar though.
From the top of Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin to the Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota, the highlights of this travel shoot ranged from absurd to historical to downright iconic - a great combination! The new Mustang wasn't a bad way to get around either. Here's a little sneak peak at some of the new additions that will be popping up in the Middle America travel photography series very soon.
