True Kansas returns
True Kansas is back. I took a break during the pandemic and decided to revamp the entire site to make some much-needed improvements. It will take a while to get a significant amount of content back online, but I hope you will find the website to be more useful and more visually appealing after this upgrade.
What/Who is True Kansas?
My name is Michael Snell. I’ll give my full background elsewhere on this site but, suffice it to say for now, that I come from a long line of Kansans and have worked much of my life either in historic preservation or the tourism industry in various capacities all within the state of Kansas. I’ve been a photographer since I can remember and have contributed photos to magazines, books, travel guides and brochures promoting Kansas attractions for decades. I have in the past also served as art director for the State travel and tourism office, designing everything from the State travel guide to the welcome signs that greet you on the highway when you cross the state line.
Several years ago I left the agency world to become a freelance designer and expanded the focus of my photography files beyond Kansas, first to neighboring states and then abroad. Those images are all available for licensing through various stock agencies, but I’ve always continued to market my Kansas photography myself.
There are also a lot of old images in my files — transparencies from before the advent of digital — that I’ll share here. Many are no longer marketable because they no longer show the Kansas that exists today, but they are interesting for that same reason. I have more than 40 years of images documenting the changing landscape and have photographed many places that simply no longer exist. At least they can be documented here.
What can I expect to find on this website?
This site is not so much a marketing tool for my Kansas photography as it is a place to share everything I find special about this state. I’ll try and represent all sides of Kansas, both the expected and the unexpected. Of course, all images are available for licensing or for personal prints. Just drop me an email if you have a question about a certain image. I’m also available for assignment.
I hope you’ll come back often and that you enjoy exploring these pages and images as much as I enjoyed exploring Kansas and making the photographs.
Thanks for stopping by!
Michael