Othello names Mike Blickfeldt November Artist of the Month

Local photographer Mike Blickfeldt has been named the Othello Old Hotel’s November artist of the month, and his landscape and nature photography is currently on display at the Old Hotel Art Gallery through the end of the month.

Blickfeldt photographs landscapes, old buildings and anything else he comes across. The photos currently on display at the Old Hotel exhibit vibrant fall colors, from soft greens to reds and yellows, and includes subjects Blickfeldt has photographed across the country.

Blickfeldt can often be found traveling around Central Washington for days at a time to pursue the perfect photo, as he’s attracted to the stillness and quiet of the outdoors where he commonly pursues his art.

“It gives me an excuse to go out and just be out in nature where it’s quiet,” Blickfeldt said. “Some people go hunting and fishing and that kind of thing, I take my camera and go shoot some photos.”

Blickfeldt grew up in a photographer family that owned its own dark room in their house, and his father was an avid hobbyist. Blickfeldt said that he learned a lot about photography from his father.

“As he walked along and drove along, he took pictures of everything he saw,” Blickfeldt said. “He always said you take 100 photos and you get one good one.”

In the town where Blickfeldt grew up, the local newspaper would offer movie tickets in exchange for freelance photos, and Blickfeldt would often snap shots of car accidents or other newsworthy events at around 2 a.m. and develop the photos in time to put them on the newsroom desk six hours later.