Title: Corn Shocks In Autumn – Accession Number: 2006.003.008
Artist: Stan Jorstad
Medium: Photography
Location: Pottawatomie Community Center (South Lobby), 8 North Avenue
Owner: St. Charles Park District
Donated By: Stan Jorstad
Map Locator Number: #13

Story: This landscape photograph shows corn shocks in autumn.  The man and boy in the middle ground are loading shocks into a horse-drawn wagon.  The bundles will be run through a machine that picks the ears of corn, removes the husks and shreds the stalks.  The corn can be cracked or ground and fed to cattle to provide protein.  The shredded stalks, called Stover, provide roughage.

The Park District’s Collection of Jorstad Photographs in this Exhibit includes:  Chicken Coop Door; Combining Oats; Corn Field on a Summer Afternoon; Corn Shocks in Autumn; Corn Shocks in Winter; Corn Shocks Through the Trees; Field Corn on Primrose Farm Silo; Hauling Grain; Primrose Farm Dairy Barn in Winter; Primrose Farm Granary; Primrose Farm Milk House; Pushing the Wheelbarrow Back to the Barn; Ripe Wheat in Amber Light; Standing Wheat; The Farmer; Wooden Wagon Wheel

Artist Story, excerpted from Mr. Jorstad’s web site:  “In the early 1960s, Stan was a cinematographer for the acclaimed television series, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. In 1979, he launched PhotoMark, a commercial photography business, based in St. Charles, Illinois. His son, Steve, now carries on the business. During his travels, his wife Wanda and their family often accompanied him on his park excursions.

Stan Jorstad’s life work has become an impressive film-based, historic photographic portfolio of America’s National Parks. He was the first film-based professional photographer to document and photograph each of our then 58 National Parks. His son Steve continued the tradition and photographed Pinnacles National Park in California which completes the current collection of 59 “Crown Jewels” in the National Park system.”

Photograph Courtesy of the St. Charles Park District