A Different Perspective

It's been nearly eight years since Douglas Hoesli's life was changed by a car wreck just two days before Christmas.

The Salina native, who in 2010 was living in Lincoln, Neb., was driving back to his hometown for the holidays on Dec. 23 when his car hit a patch of black ice on the highway. In the ensuing wreck, Hoesli fractured his neck and became a C7 quadriplegic, partially paralyzed from the chest down.

"I can operate my hands, but they're weakened," he said. "My fingers don't move, so I use the tendons in my hands to pick up things. Everyone has that tendon, but they don't use them."

Hoesli, then age 22, had been attending Cloud County Community College, where he had been on a soccer scholarship. He had taken a year off school and was planning to return when the wreck happened.

"That put everything on hold," he said. "It's been eight years, and I've seen physical improvement. I've come a long way."

While in college, Hoesli had taken a photography course on a whim and became passionate about the process of shooting, editing and cropping photos. He was even saving up to buy a camera before the wreck occurred.

About two years ago, to give himself a creative outlet, Hoesli began taking photos with his cell phone of places and people around Salina. What he didn't expect was how emotionally healing photography would be for him.

"I found a love and a passion for something again," he said.

A selection of 21 of Hoesli's photos — most of them taken in and around downtown Salina — are on display through Dec. 28 in Gallery 708, located in the south lobby of the Salina Public Library, 301 W. Elm.

Entitled "A Different Perspective," Hoesli said the photos are the result of challenging personal and artistic boundaries while exploring local landmarks that have always fascinated him.

"This last summer, I found myself spending most afternoons downtown around Santa Fe (Avenue) just exploring streets and alleyways," he said. "I would photograph many different things, from well-known landmarks to small, barely noticeable tile work surrounding a door that is in complete disrepair."

Hoesli's photos capture a downtown bicycle rack, the box office booth in front of the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts, the alleyway behind Martinelli's Little Italy and a sign from Bergen's Art Gallery, along with tile work and area flowers and plants.

Hoesli's unique vantage point from a wheelchair gives him what he called "A Different Perspective," which supplied the title for his exhibition.

"I just take pictures of things that pop out at me," he said. "I feel if my photographs say anything, it is that beauty is all around us in various forms. I try to see the possibilities in the ordinary subjects that others may not notice the majority of the time."

Seven photos in the exhibition have been sold already, which not only gives Hoesli confidence in his abilities as a photographer, but allows him to continue saving for a real camera.

"The iPhone is good, but it has its limitations," he said. "I hope to get a nice digital camera by this spring, so I can expand my artistic box."

Hoesli said he's received valuable assistance from the SPARKS Artist Exchange, a local organization that connects and empowers area artists of all disciplines, and said its director, Lori Brack, has helped him focus and grow as an artist.

"Before that, I felt kind of alone," he said. "I went there and found a community of local artists helping each other. Now I feel like I'm doing something valuable again."