In 2023, I became interested in self-reflection as a pictorial idea and in what I might do photographically in the historic downtown area of Laramie, WY, a subject I have quietly observed for more than 30 years.
My approach to image-making is an accumulation of methods I have adopted over time—composing in-camera at the time of exposure, processing my digital captures in Photoshop to transform color images to black-and-white, and making tonal adjustments to make prints that speak to my emotional and physical response to place.
Reflections has become an exploration of time, place, and identity through Laramie’s history, vernacular architecture, western iconography, and mythology, and my presence in a place I have lived longer than anywhere else. The images are visually complex, with interior and exterior perspectives captured simultaneously, offering new relationships between time and place, and finding new meaning in my presence in the continuum.
Documenting Southeast Wyoming’s vibrant music scene through the power of black and white photography.
For 15 years, I have been photographing musicians, singer-songwriters, and touring bands who have played in the bars, music festivals, and theaters of Southeast Wyoming. The Snowy Range Music Festival (2009 – 2015) honed my interest in pursuing this work as I began to understand the challenges of photographing musicians on stage: constant movement, changing lighting conditions, navigating microphones and amplifiers, and stage presence.
While many of these images have been posted on social media over the years, this is the first time they have been printed and released as museum-quality prints. Curating this selection was challenging, as it involved finding iconic images of Laramie’s and Wyoming’s musicians, an array of venues and festivals, and creating a cohesive, expansive series. There are many more to be discovered, and I continue to add to this project.
My interest in presenting this work now stems from a curiosity to reflect on our vibrant music community at a time when we seem to be recovering in exciting ways from the COVID lull. SOK Gallery is part of that revival, and I want to honor all those musicians, venues, and fans who have stood by and supported the musical talents among us.
The exhibition remains on view in SOK Gallery, 1009 S 2nd St, Laramie, WY through November 6, 2026.
J Shogren, J Shogren Shanghai'd, 2018
John Wilhelm, Alysia Krafft, J Shogren Shanghai'd, 2015
Bob Lefevre, Bob Lefevre & The Already Gone, 2019
Jalan Crossland, 2017
Mike Krupp, Bob Lefevre & The Already Gone, 2019
Seth McGee, Bob Lefevre & The Already Gone, 2019
Jason Burge, J Sogren Shanghai'd, 2016
Bob Moore, Moral Panic, 2018
John Wilhelm, Mark Cupps, J Shogren Shanghai'd, 2017
Shawn Hess, Elk Tongue, 2016
Hillery Lynn, Birgit Burke, Whiskey Slaps, 2015
John Poland, 2018
Jascha Herdt, Seadar Rose, Screen Door Porch, 2016
Moldenhauer’s image, Illuminated, was selected for inclusion in SHOTS Magazine’s issue No. 127, Fall 2026. The theme for the issue was The Human Figure. SHOTS Magazine is a quarterly online publication that features a theme for which photographers can submit images. As such, it focuses on the value of the single image. It also includes […]
ARTDOC Magazine selected two of Susan Moldenhauer’s images for Living Space, a global online exhibition. Living Space explores the environments we inhabit and the spaces that shape everyday experience. It presents photographic perspectives on the places we move through and the surroundings that form part of daily life. The exhibition encompasses cityscapes, rural landscapes, domestic […]
Exhibition in 2025: Wyoming | Susan, 2004 is from an earlier series called Place | Mind | Spirit. It was First Place in Abandon/Abandonment at the New York Center for Photographic Arts in 2025. Jennifer with Monarchs 2025, was accepted into Blue Sky Gallery’s Home and Garden Show, an online exhibition that is part of […]
I have been remiss in posting my accomplishments on this website, largely due to a battle with dry eye that has kept me from being on the computer for any length of time. Notable achievements from 2023 – 2024: FStop Magazine, Black and White Photography, online group exhibition, issue #117, 2023; Hey! What’s That Sound, […]
