His aim is true

On a recent Thursday afternoon, four generations of College for Creative Studies (CCS) photographers — more than a dozen current students and their teachers, as well as past students who are now teachers — meet at the Detroit Center for Contemporary Photography to eat pizza, and mine the mind of 92-year-old Detroit photographer Bill Rauhauser.

With a smile as warm as his cardigan, which is as white as his hair, Rauhauser is the last man through the door. He takes his time. The lensman is a star of sorts, but he could be some retired Midwestern grandfather. His work, however, from 1950 on, speaks volumes, with its sensitivity and storytelling. It's devilish in its contemporary coolness.

With time to spare before he takes center stage to speak, Rauhauser makes his way toward familiar faces in the room.

The DCCP's economical sampling of Rauhauser's photos show the skill and breadth of his work, as does a recently published, plainly titled collection, Bill Rauhauser: 20th Century Photography in Detroit (St. Paul's Press), which might've better been suited with a sexier name, such as Street Shots and Streamed Lines: Detroit Photography Godfather Bill Hauser Sets the Bar.

The biographical forward by writer Mary Desjarlais tells of a man who grew alongside the history of contemporary photography in Detroit, transitioning in innovation, and turning a hobby into a serious art medium. She sets the scene for several hundred of Rauhauser's mostly stunning prints.

But to see them large on the wall is a treat.

As the only gallery in the region dedicated to showing modern photography, the DCCP is a fitting location for the Rauhauser exhibit and talk. Director and chief curator Kyohei Abe — one of those CCS students-turned-teachers — founded the gallery for the same reasons Rauhauser founded the Group 4 Gallery on Indiana, south of Grand River in Detroit: to have a home for photo art where Detroit photographers can exhibit.

Soon Rauhauser is seated on a plush couch, telling his tale. He explains how a leisurely photo club spawned the Group 4, which, in 1964, was one of the first in the nation dedicated solely to exhibiting photography of art. Some students turn back to look at Abe, visualizing the connection, maybe realizing that, some day, the baton could be theirs to carry. With that baton comes a responsibility that Rauhauser hopes isn't lost on a generation raised in the digital age:

"See, there's there's photography as art, but there's also the art of taking and making a photograph," Rauhauser says. "You have exciting new technology, what with digital cameras and Photoshop and all of that, which is fine, and when you're older there will be even more advancements in technology, which is OK if you want to do that sort of thing. I'm not telling you how to make art, but the basic rules of photography will always apply, ... and what the camera shoots will always be true. The true negative never lies about what was shot; only the photographer can lie."

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