Army veteran and Kishwaukee College alumnus Mike Genke, DeKalb, entered his photo of the U.S. flag that hangs in the College’s atrium into a veterans’ art competition at Hines VA Hospital. His photo won and has been entered into a national competition held by the Veterans Administration in Mississippi. If the photo, Old Glory, does well in the national competition, then it will be shipped to Washington, D.C. for a public art display.
Kishwaukee College alum and Army veteran Mike Genke, DeKalb, took a black and white photo of the flag suspended in the Main Atrium at Kishwaukee College and submitted it to the Hines VA Hospital Art Competition. It took First Place and is now being judged in Jackson, Mississippi in the National VA Art Competition. If his photo, titled Old Glory, wins in Jackson, it will be packaged and shipped again. This time, though, it will be sent to Washington, D.C. for public display. “I am excited,” said Genke. “If the photograph wins in Jackson, I hope I will be making a trip to Washington, too.”
Mike Genke served with the 1 st Infantry out of Fort Riley in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The Big Red 1 advanced into enemy-held territory in Kuwait in 100 hours. It was a war that ended quickly, but left long lasting shadows and scars for the military personnel who served. Mike Genke has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has battled other physical health issues. Photography has kept him steady and moving forward.
“I had played around with color photography for several years, but took a black and white photography class with [instructor] Christian Arrecis at Kish,” he explained. “It was a different kind of challenge.” Mike liked the hands-on aspect of developing film in the dark rooms on campus and found himself looking for shadows and light that would create the stark beauty of a black and white still.
The U.S. flag suspended from the open atrium under the mullioned-paned ceiling had the right play of light and patterning to make it an excellent subject for black and white photography. Mike knew he had a beautiful shot that perfectly captured the symbol he had served under for 10 years as a soldier in the United States Army.
When the Hines VA Hospital put out the call for submissions for their art competition, Mike responded with three photographic works: Old Glory, Wall of Stars (a color photo of the WWII Memorial in Washington D.C.), and Red Buds in Bloom (a color photo of Fabian Park in Batavia). He managed to get them enlarged, printed, and submitted within a few days. “I only found out about the contest when there was only three days left to submit work,” he said. “So I quickly got everything together.” His submissions were among 106 art works created by U.S. Veterans entered in the competition.
Of his three works, Old Glory holds a special place in his heart because of the beauty of the black and white image; the fact that it was taken at Kishwaukee where he had been a student; and the subject itself, the U.S. Flag. He is glad it is the photo that won.
“Photography is a very personal passion for me,” Mike said. “That this photo won means a lot to me. When I look at a flag, it just touches me. I feel pride.” A pride he hopes may resonate with VA Hospitals at the national competition. Mike Genke will find out how Old Glory fared in the national competition in early summer.
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