EVERYDAY LIFE presents snapshots of ordinary moments worthy of documentation. So, when I’m out and about in public places, I look for those unique storytelling moments. To capture them with my camera gives me a sense of satisfaction. To share those images is to share a slice of life.
Defined, this is candid street photography. People just going about their daily lives when I take a photo unnoticed. I’m always respectful in my photography, often opting for side or back images. Occasionally I ask for a posed portrait. But my preference is always natural, unscripted.
Recently, upon a return road trip from Rochester, Randy and I stopped in small town Kenyon to shop at a downtown thrift store. But before we could even exit the van, I noticed two guys across the street standing by a mid-1950s International Harvester Farmall tractor chained onto a trailer.
I can only guess at their conversation. Perhaps they were bartering over a price, talking repairs or reminiscing. But the scene was so typical rural Minnesota. Guys dressed in their work-worn jeans (one with suspenders), sturdy work boots and everyday shirts engaged deep in conversation. Only their seed corn caps were missing.
The scene was decidedly different in Faribault the next evening. While attending Car Cruise Night, two Somali women crossed my path on Central Avenue. I smiled and greeted them as they continued down the sidewalk. They carried textiles similar to those I’ve seen in storefront windows of some local Somali-owned businesses.
I appreciated the moment because the women reflect the cultural diversity of my community. The demographics of Faribault, of Minnesota, have changed a lot in recent years and I’m happy to showcase that in my work.
Some 135 miles to the northwest in Willmar, I once again saw the cultural diversity of a city which is home to many Latinos and those with East African roots, especially Somalis. A short walk and drive about the downtown confirmed that.
While photographing an artsy street bench, I encountered a young man sitting on a large planter box. I noticed his patriotic-themed shirt featuring a liberty bell against a backdrop American flag and the message, Let Freedom Ring. “I like your shirt,” I said, as he pulled out his ear buds and then invited me to take his photo. I jumped at the chance to photograph him, creating a memorable portrait. He reflects the diversity of his community. And his t-shirt made a strong statement about liberty during this, the 250th birthday year of a nation built by immigrants.
Up the road some 20 miles northwest of Willmar, I took a street portrait, literally in the street, outside the Kerkhoven Civic Center. The building houses city hall, the library, a heritage room and a community gathering space. It’s just down the street from an ice cream shop along busy U.S. Highway 12.
After enjoying bowls heaping with scoops of key lime pie ice cream and maple nut ice cream from Sweets Ice Cream, Randy and I headed for the van. That’s when I saw a guy leaving the civic center with a crockpot in hands. I stood in the middle of the street—you can do that in Kerkhoven, population around 800—and took his photograph.
If anything says “Minnesota,” it’s a potluck. I didn’t track the guy down to ask if he had any leftovers. I wasn’t hungry after eating all that ice cream. But I was delighted to photograph him in this signature Minnesota moment.
Candid street photography tells a story within a moment of time. History. A record of everyday life. And when I can snapshot that, I feel a sense of accomplishment because I’ve documented a moment worth honoring, worth sharing, worth much more than a thousand words.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Reflecting on Alexander Faribault upon his June 22 birthday June 17, 2026
Tags: Alexander Faribault, Alexander Faribault House, birthday, Calvary Cemetery, celebration, commentary, Dakota, diversity, events, Faribault, fur trader, history, June 22, Minnesota, open house, Rice County Historical Society, Wahpekute
MANY YEARS HAVE PASSED since I toured the nondescript wood-frame house built by Alexander Faribault in 1853. Multiple times a week I pass by this house which sits along busy Minnesota State Highway 60 in downtown Faribault. It’s become so much a part of the local landscape that I don’t even notice the building which was briefly home to Faribault and his family. But it’s an important part of local history given Alexander Faribault founded the town in 1855.
On Monday, June 22, Alexander Faribault will be celebrated at a free birthday open house from 5-6:30 p.m. in his former home at 12 First Avenue Northeast. Born 220 years ago in 1806, Faribault died at age 76 in November 1882.
Attendees at the upcoming birthday celebration can learn a whole lot more about Faribault, the town and the house from staff and volunteers with the Rice County Historical Society. I’m always up to learning more about the city I’ve called home since 1984.
I know the basics about Alexander Faribault, a licensed fur trader who first established a trading post along the Cannon River in 1826 or 1827, depending on your information source. He was only twenty years old. He grew his business throughout the region, trading with the Wahpekute, a band of the Dakota, and moving his trading post to the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers, current-day Faribault.
I imagine for Faribault, who was French Canadian and Dakota, developing trading partnerships with the Dakota proved easy given his understanding of the people, their language and culture. But later that same relationship proved challenging for him. Some locals, after the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, no longer appreciated his friendship with the Dakota and his willingness to shelter some of them on his farm.
Back then, just like today, this community has not always been accepting of others. In the 1860s, the Dakota were targeted. Today it is the Somali community. It’s disheartening when history repeats itself, when differences in skin color, food, culture and language separate us. Alexander Faribault, as a mixed blood who embraced the Dakota, surely witnessed and felt the challenges of injustices and discrimination.
My community has certainly made progress in welcoming all to our city. Yet, we could do better. I still hear derogatory comments about our Somali neighbors, worsened by the current political climate. I still hear derogatory comments about our Hispanic neighbors, made worse by current immigration policies. We are all, unless Indigenous or descendants of slaves, of immigrant roots, something people often forget.
Alexander Faribault wasn’t “from” here. He was born in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. But he came here, established a fur trading business and eventually founded the city of Faribault. By all accounts, he was kind, generous and compassionate and served in many capacities from interpreter to territorial legislator to school board member to postmaster. I’m sure he had his flaws. We all do. But it seems Alexander Faribault did his best to build a strong and inclusive community that has grown into the diverse city of today. I think he’d appreciate a legacy of diversity.
On a 1958 marker at the entrance to Calvary Cemetery where Alexander Faribault is buried, these words are written about him: Race or creed did not color his judgments. He saw in every man the image of God and thereby the possibility of making this a better place in which to live.
Those seem necessary and profound words for all of us to read. Especially today.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling