Photographer captures ‘soul of the prairie’ in one-room school
Cristen Roghair captures the soul of the prairie and the freedom of the open air through her photography at the Grandview Gallery east of Okaton. Once known as Grandview Township School in the early 1900s, the building now enjoys new life as an art space.
“I wanted to keep the name of the school while also capturing the beauty of the area,” Cristen says. “It’s also a play on words because there is a grand view of nature here.”
Cristen and her husband, Marty, began restoring the old schoolhouse in 2020 on their ranch with help from donations. Built a century ago, it last served students around 1959. Today, the space brings people together and periodically displays photography from her business, Cristen Joy Photography.
In addition to artwork, the gallery hosts periodic get-togethers featuring local musicians, giving residents and visitors a chance to experience local culture and catch up with each other.
Candid moments in nature
In her photography, Cristen enjoys spur-of-the-moment inspiration instead of taking days to plan a photo. She says many of her best photographs happen when she is in nature, going for walks, hiking, or even spotting a good scene while driving.
“Photography is a journey of discovery for me; it’s fulfilling to find the beauty in everything I can,” Cristen says. “It’s so much fun to just go to the Badlands without any expectations because it frees me more creatively when the weather or sky isn’t ideal.”
Yearning to return
Cristen developed an interest in photography before she had been west of the Mississippi River. Growing up, her family moved to Murdo from Chicago and Wisconsin when she was a teenager in the mid-1990s.
She saved money for her first SLR camera while working on the Jones County High School newspaper and yearbook. After graduation, Cristen returned to Chicago, where she took photography classes in college, with no plans to have South Dakota in the picture again.
“I was the least likely person to come back,” Cristen says. “I had no ties to come here, but everywhere I lived and worked, there was always a yearning for South Dakota.”
Cristen fell in love with the prairie, moved back to Jones County, and got married. Between helping on the ranch and raising two children, she launched Cristen Joy Photography and continues to appreciate the place she now calls home.
“Murdo is unique because there’s a contrast between two popular parts of South Dakota – tourism and agriculture,” Cristen says. “Here, that blends together and makes up the community I love.”
Capturing with connection
Through her Golden West services, Cristen can grow her photography business and stay connected with her community. She appreciates her steady, reliable connection, which makes it easy to sell prints online from her website.
“Without Golden West, I wouldn’t be able to do much of my work uploading and downloading photos,” Cristen says. “It would be nearly impossible to run my website, marketing online, and use photo editing software programs.”
