About Bill Blankenburg

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Bill Blankenberg's first series of photographs were taken with a borrowed camera in 1947 - the photos were of his grade school burning down. He was living in a small town in South Dakota and said "everyone turned out for a good fire, so I went and took pictures."

The first foray into the world of freelance photography was not very profitable, as no one would buy the pictures. He hired by the town photographer to take pictures of a funeral that the photographer was a pallbearer in.

For his entry into the contest, Blackenberg wanted "to answer the familiar question: What would the famous painter Rene Magritte have done after a nice lunch at Duarte's Tavern?" He notes that Magritte used windows in scenes to disclose other scenes, so "I decided to impose the barn window over a rock in a picture I had of Pescadero Beach. The other images came from my files."
The 73-year-old retired professor currently resides in Los Altos. He spends his time taking hikes and taking pictures.

-- Daniel Grujic