Photography & Art at the Rock: Featuring Stephanie Irwin

Photography & Art at the Rock, a monthly exhibit in the lobby of the Split Rock Lighthouse Visitor Center that showcases local artists, landscape and wildlife photographers of the area. For the month of September our featured photographer is Stephanie Irwin. Stephanie is a hobbyist maritime and landscape photographer who has called Duluth, Minnesota, home since moving here in the fall of 2020. Prior to this, Stephanie lived all of her life in Michigan, having grown up in Frankenmuth, a small, popular Bavarian tourist town. She went on to pursue undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Biology at Hope College in Holland, MI, before attending medical school at Wayne State University School of Medicine. She completed residency training in Internal Medicine at University of Michigan and subsequently completed subspecialty training in Gastroenterology at Wayne State University. Both Stephanie and her husband, Brad, are full time gastroenterologists. Her love of the outdoors, the Great Lakes, and the maritime industry started at a young age while her family spent summers boating in Charlevoix, MI, which is a small town nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan. Here she would often watch freighters and passenger ships arrive and depart, and on occasion, would bring her camera along. However, it wasn’t until she moved to Duluth in 2020—the largest and busiest Great Lakes shipping port—that her passion for photography developed. Stephanie is a self-taught hobbyist photographer, mainly focusing on maritime and landscape photography. She enjoys shooting in all seasons and in all weather conditions, with her favorite times to shoot being at sunrise and sunset with a vibrant sky. Stephanie’s work has been published regionally in print and online. Her photography is regularly featured in Duluth Seaway Port Authority’s North Star Port magazine; she also was published in May 2024’s issue of Lake Superior Magazine and has been a contributing photographer for Destination Duluth since 2022. You can also find some of her work at Falling Rock Café & Bookstore in Munising, MI. Her goals for her photography are twofold: First, it’s a way for her to enjoy the tranquility and beauty of nature while winding down from the stresses of life as a physician. And secondly—even more importantly—she is passionate about showcasing and bringing the beauty of Duluth and the North Shore into the lives of others. “I can’t always cure disease while at work,” she says, “but if I can elicit a smile or emotion and brighten someone’s day through photography, then it’s all worth it.” In addition to photography, she enjoys spending time with her family and golden retriever in and around Lake Superior, long distance running, tennis, fishing, boating, writing, gardening, and volunteering. Irwin’s show will run from September 1-30. She will be onsite on the following dates: September 1, 10AM-2PM September 14, 10AM-2PM September 21, 10AM-2PM