Paul Horsted Presents Black Hills Yesterday & Today

Author/photographer Paul Horsted will give a free presentation about his work in the Black Hills and elsewhere at the Pipestone Performing Arts Center on Thursday, March 6, 2025, at 6:30 p.m.
 

Paul has specialized in finding the sites of historic photographs and then creating a matching modern image of the same place, revealing beauty and history "then and now”. Watching the images fade from past to present, the photopairs help us understand history and further appreciate the beauty of places like the Black Hills. Paul says his work is a little like a treasure hunt. “It’s fascinating to finally reach the site of a historic photograph and realize you’re looking at the same rocks, maybe even the same tree stumps, that a photographer recorded 150 years ago,” he said, adding that “the changes are surprising, but so are the similarities.”
 

Paul’s best-known book (and title of his program) is The Black Hills Yesterday & Today, with more than 150 then-and-now images of this beautiful and historic region. Paul also used this technique with photos from the 1874 Black Hills “Custer” Expedition. In 1874, historical Minnesota photographer W.H. Illingworth took the first photos ever made there. Horsted will share photos of the exact places where Illingworth took photos 150 years ago, many of them near his home at Custer, S.D.
 

This program is made possible through a “Better Together” grant courtesy of Prairielands Library Exchange, awarded to the Pipestone County Historical Society, Meinders Community Library of Pipestone, and the Pipestone Area MS/HS Library with assistance from community partner, the Pipestone Performing Arts Center. The event is free of charge and suitable for all ages and a book signing will follow. For more information about Paul’s work visit www.pauhorsted.com.