From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., 432 people got their photos taken by themselves, with their spouse, or their loved ones. Madson said overall the experience was a fantastic time.

“Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun,” he said. “We had the Narren which was fantastic, I had so much fun and I really got to experience a lot. You get a sense of what the actual New Ulm community is here.”

Madson said the whole event went smoothly. On both ends of the age spectrum, he photographed a three-week-old baby and a 100-year-old woman.

An emphasis of the project was to represent as many people within the New Ulm community as possible. Madson said the response exceeded his expectations for the project’s reach.

Photographer Josh Madson does what he does best with Sharon and Don Klaviter. People from as young as three weeks to as old as 100 years got their photos taken.

“I wasn’t even sure how many people were gonna get through,” he said. “I was thinking maybe two or 300 people. I want to represent as many people as would like to be part of this. I’d like to be as inclusive as I can. I’m really proud of the work we did today.”

A documentary crew went around during the day to take footage of the event, which Madson said was a success. He said it will be included with a placement at the Twin Cities Film Festival.

From his first iteration of the project in Mankato to wrapping up the photography work in New Ulm, Madson said it is surreal to see how far everything has come.

“Last year when I was in the area, I didn’t know as many people,” he said. “I created the project out of thin air, so seeing people are really excited about it, wanting to participate and be part of it. For me, I looked around today and was like ‘Wow, we really did something special.'”

Madson said he is currently with the Downtown Action Team to find a space downtown for the completed mural. He said he hopes to have the collage completed by the end of the summer or early fall, so the footage from the unveiling can be added to the documentary.

Emily Atnip looks at the photos taken of her family with her son Wallace. There were 432 people who got their pictures taken, and around 30 photos were taken of each person or group of people.