Stephen A. Born
Stephen A. Born has spent a lifetime exploring the visual and poetic dimensions of the everyday. His earliest experiments began with his grandfather’s Argus 35mm film camera, staging epic battles of toy soldiers and Tonka trucks in his backyard, then developing the film late into the night in a makeshift darkroom. From those playful beginnings grew a practice rooted in curiosity, patience, and a commitment to seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.
Born received his training in commercial photography at a technical school, leading to an internship—and eventually a staff photography role—at General Mills. The experience gave him both technical rigor and an entry into the creative industry. From there, he built his career by assisting established photographers in the Twin Cities, gaining trust through observation, questions, and relentless work ethic.
Over the decades, Born has pursued a wide range of creative outlets—welding, sculpture, woodworking, glass fusion, neon, writing, and furniture design. His current focus is A Tale of Two Lakes, a multimedia project that pairs photography with Haiku poetry to invite viewers into a deeper awareness of their immediate environment. Through close observation of the natural world, he seeks to show that beauty does not demand travel to distant, exotic places—it exists in backyards, local parks, and overlooked corners of daily life.
His process is intuitive, built on openness to light, chance, and serendipity. Whether capturing a snowdrift transformed by shadow into a monumental form, or patiently shadowing a heron on a humid Minnesota morning, his work reflects reverie, patience, and a deep respect for the natural environment.
For Born, success is measured not in accolades but in joy and connection: whether he still delights in the process, and whether others are moved to see differently. Posting his photo-and-Haiku pairings online, he has inspired communities to write their own poems in response, turning solitary practice into shared ritual.
Looking forward, Born hopes to bring A Tale of Two Lakes to wider audiences through grants, exhibitions, and—he hopes—the prestigious MAEP program at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. “The riskiest chance in life,” he reflects, “is the one you don’t take.”
