Lawrence.com

Laura Dalrymple has literally traveled to Timbuktu for her artwork. A native of Kansas, Dalrymple went back to school later in life, majoring in the fine arts, and when an opportunity arrived to journey to Africa, she took it � and went on the adventure of a lifetime.

"I had no idea what things would look like, or how we would live," she says. "It was really, really primitive, even in the dorms. We had a bucket of water for our shower."

The photographer was working on her master's degree in fine arts at Ghana University when she ventured to Timbuktu. No one bothered to tell her that the government was in the process of being overthrown in a military coup. She and her traveling companions were detained in a hotel until they managed to escape to the Ivory Coast where, ironically, they were arrested for journeying without visas. And all the while, Dalrymple just wanted to go back to school.

"We had classes on Monday," Dalrymple says. "That was quite a learning year. Everything is so different from here."

It was her custom while in Africa to go out and interview her subjects while also taking pictures. She got to know the various artists, pottery makers, wood carvers and coffin makers. Things have not changed very much since then. Now that she's back in Kansas, Dalrymple is still interviewing the locals while taking loads of photographs. She generally organizes her exhibits according to theme, and her latest, "Kansas Crossroads," is now on display in the art gallery at Borders Books, 700 N.H.

The exhibit features black and white photographs of Kansas settings. Dalrymple is as infatuated with Kansas as she is with the terrain of Africa or the Mideast countries she's also visited.

"I take pictures of a variety of things, but I put them together in a consistent show. I've traveled all over, but when I came back to Kansas it was like I was really coming back and having a second look. It was almost like a new place," she says.

A Topeka resident, Dalrymple started her college career at a junior college, obtained a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the University of California at San Diego and then headed to Africa. She ended up back at the Art Institute of Chicago before coming home to Kansas.

Dalyrmple is still doing plenty of local traveling. In addition to her exhibits, she's been in jury competitions and has been the chairman of area art councils. Now Dalrymple is teaching at both Allen County Community College and Neosho Community College. As she logs miles on her road trips, she keeps her camera ready for anything that catches her eye.

The photographer recently beat ovarian cancer, but while she was undergoing chemotherapy, she tried to stay in the Northeast Kansas vicinity. The end results are the photos in her "Kansas Crossroads" exhibit, which feature everything from landscapes to shots of old roadside gas stations. Her work makes the most of light and shadows, and creates almost serene settings in the framing of her pictures.

"I go out every chance I can. Every weekend I photograph anything possible. Most of the pictures in this exhibit were shot within a days drive from here," she says.

Dalrymple greets the simplicity of Kansas wheat fields with the same enthusiasm she showed the African plains or the fertile terrain of Turkey. She hopes her pictures make viewers equally enthusiastic about the natural beauty she finds in Kansas settings.

"I want people to see a perspective of Kansas like I see it through my eyes," Dalyrmple says. "My photos are taken out of thrill, or nostalgia and remembrance, along with capturing current times. What I really want is for people to relate to the work."