The new exhibit is called “30 Countries in 30 Years” by photographer Autumn Carolynn. The exhibit features photographs from several countries Carolynn has visited.

The grand opening of the exhibit was held Friday.

Carolynn is a freelance travel writer and photographer based in Minneapolis. Her goal is to visit an average of one country each year of her life. Currently, she has traveled to 30 countries and six continents.

Grand board member Pam Stocco praised the exhibit, saying it is a way for the snowbound to travel the world in a single room.

Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Tom Balge and Eleanor Tomhave attend the grand opening of the “30 Countries in 30 Years” photography exhibit. The two examine photos taken by Autumn Carolynn from the Scandinavian region.

Carolynn’s travels began in college. During her senior year, she studied in England. While in England she would travel abroad to different countries on the weekends. She visited 13 different countries in Europe in a single semester and brought her Nikon along.

After college she became a flight attendant, allowing her to travel frequently. She later became a travel agent and travel design manager.

Once the COVID pandemic hit, her career stalled due to limited overseas travel. Carolynn said during that downtime she had a chance to go through her collection of travel photos and turn her hobby into a new career path.

The exhibit features a small sample of Carolynn’s work. She said for every photo on displays she has probably 1,000 others. Her style is to take as many photos of a location as possible and edit them later.

Her preference is to make minimal edits to the photos. She might change the exposure or contrast to bring out the additional color, but her preference is to capture what is present.

The above photo was taken in Norway and the lower photo was taken in Austria. Photographer Autumn Carolynn has traveled to 30 different countries in her life and photographed them all.

In creating this exhibit, Carolynn tried to represent a wide array of locations. There are 16 different countries represented in her gallery show. Each photo comes with a notation of the country it was photographed.

Asked about her favorite photography subject, Carolynn said she enjoyed photographing trees because they brought up pleasant memories. She said her favorite country on display in the exhibit was Norway. There were two autumn photos on display from Norway.

With 30 countries photographed, Carolynn has next set her sights on South Korea. This will be her 31st country. She hopes to someday photograph India as well as visit Antarctica.

The “30 Countries in 30 Years” exhibit will be on display at The Grand through March 24. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.