Wing Young Huie

1955 — present

A black and white photo of an adult with meduim light skin wearing a black shirt and has short black hair looks at the viewer with arms crossed.

va1999po_Wing Young Huie Visual Arts, portrait. Artist Wing Young Huie, 1999. Photo by Dan Dennehy for Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.

Wing Young Huie is a Minnesota-born photographer who has received national and international recognition for his work. In 1998/1999, Huie was featured in two major Walker Art Center exhibitions, Unfinished History and Dialogues: Paul Beatty/Wing Young Huie, both of which included photographs from Lake Street USA.

Huie has been photographing diverse communities in his homestate for ten years. In 1995, he displayed 173 photographs in an outdoor lot in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul. In 1996 the Minnesota Historical Society Press published that exhibition in a critically acclaimed book titled, Frogtown: Photographs and Conversations from a Neighborhood. It is used in many school classrooms and is required reading for a Hamline University course.

According to former mayor George Latimer, "St. Paul's Frogtown is unique and historic but is mirrored in neighborhoods all over America. By listening closely to the citizens of Frogtown and searching through the unblinking lens of his camera, Wing Young Huie gives us all hope."

The new Juvenile Detention Center in downtown St. Paul will display many of Huie's photographs permanently. "One problem we see time and again with our kids is a disconnect between themselves and their families and communities. These photos are powerful reminders of how important family and community are. They will provide stepping off points for conversations and discussions with the youth held there." (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/10/00.)