Taking a summer stroll along the beach at Wisconsin Point, a Diminutive Duiker takes a break from his daily travels to pose for some photos. The photographer, Åke (pronounced Oak-ee) Carlson is very familiar with this specific species of Duiker -- he created it. Spawned from the hands of Carlson, the Duiker is a small African antelope that is built from a few small sticks, some birch bark and dry grass.
The Duiker is amongst 19 other "creatures" that Carlson "discovered" and featured in his new book "Unkle ?ke's Field Guide to Infrequently Found Animals on the Shore of Lake Superior." Carlson's creatures were found on numerous locations along the shores of Lake Superior in both Canada and the United States.
Carlson devises not only the physical framework of the creature but also creates a scientific name and a brief description of the animal (the Duiker's is Artificialopus Africus). Some items that he describes are the creatures' migration, life span, diet, habitat along with many others. Also, Carlson writes a creative story that tells the reader a little bit more about each of the creatures.
Every experience with a creature was a little different for Carlson. The amount of photos that Carlson would take was one obvious inconsistency. One day Carlson might have been only been able to take a half of a roll of film due to weather or time, while other days Carlson would take two, three or even more rolls of film of the creatures.
One thing that is consistent, however, is the long walks that Carlson takes in search of a scenic location and his creature's body parts.
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"It's great just taking a walk on the beach, seeing what this lake has to offer," Carlson said.
On average, Carlson spends about 5-8 hours gathering the pieces, creating the creature and then taking photos of the creature. Carlson usually will cover those five to eight hours over two to three days with a creature before going home to research and come up with the creature's identity.
Alongside the book's creative writing and nature photography another interesting component lies. In the book's final four pages, Carlson challenges the reader to go out and find their own creatures. This challenge to the readers plays into Carlson's whole goal of the book.
"I want to try and pass along my love for Lake Superior and my passion for nature," Carlson said.
Carlson first began his interest in the creatures when he planned to make a creature out of just rocks and sticks as a Christmas gift for his nieces and nephews. In 2003, Carlson began a five year journey to the publishing of the book, spending two years on the beach creating and photographing the creatures and three years trying to get the book published.
Carlson grew up in Duluth and graduated from Duluth Denfeld High School in 1992. He then continued his education at North Park University in Illinois where he earned a creative writing major and was the lead photographer of the student's association at the college. Both his creative writing skills and photography experience would prove to be helpful as he did both in his book. Carlson also self-published the book, something he had no previous experience doing.
"I like to think of myself as a writer first," Carlson said. "I'm a publisher by necessity."
Now living in Mass City, Michigan, Carlson considers himself an avid outdoorsman. He enjoys kayaking, hiking, snowshoeing and growing his own vegetables on an old farm in the Upper Peninsula that he and his wife Janelle are trying to rebuild.
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As for the Duiker who once resided on the beach at Wisconsin Point, he now lives with Carlson in a bin, which he takes with him to local elementary schools. He brings the Duiker along as one of the animals and teaches kids that it is good to get outside, enjoy nature and get the same enjoyment out of the lake that he does.
"If this is one way [to get kids active] then I'm happy about that," Carlson said.
Dan Tracy is starting his senior year in the fall at Superior High School. He was co-editor-in-chief of the Spartan Spin last year and is interning at the Daily Telegram this summer. He can be reached at (715) 395-5078.
