For Michael Lee, taking pictures is like scratching an itch he’s had for a long, long time.

Photographer Lee is the Lewis & Clark Library’s featured artist at this weekend’s Art Walk, 6-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14. Businesses and galleries all over downtown Helena will be open late and showing work by a huge variety of local artists.

Lee’s urge to pick up a camera began in the 1970s, when he was a Navy man on duty in Vietnam. As a young soldier, Lee says, he saw so many people and places worthy of being captured on film, but was unable to indulge his inspiration.

“You just couldn’t go around shooting pictures,” says Lee. “That’s not your job.”

Back in the States, Lee learned to wield a camera for the Eastern Montana College newspaper, becoming familiar with the intricacies of black-and-white photography and how to work in the darkroom.

His skills came in handy when the Peace Corps took him to Liberia, where he became involved with a project to document a collection of African art.

“And then I pretty much dropped it,” says Lee, who returned to Montana and settled into life raising a family and working a steady job.

Lee’s love of photography was rekindled just a few years ago when he moved to Unionville, only to find a treasure trove of rusty cars and barrels and old pianos, prompting him to pick up his camera again.

“I don’t go past this piano without falling in love with it,” says Lee. “That’s what happens.”

Although he has a great respect for black-and-white photography, Lee personally prefers to shoot in rich, dramatic color. And just like in the song, Lee says he loves his Kodachrome film.

“Unfortunately, it’s almost history,” says Lee. “The quality of that film is unsurpassed.”

“The last roll of film’s gonna be expensive,” he adds with a laugh.

Although Lee’s exhibition includes a couple of traditional landscapes, most of his found objects are captured in such a way that it isn’t always clear what they are at first.

“I like the abstraction,” says Lee.

As he gets back into the medium, Lee says he wishes he was able to photograph more people but isn’t comfortable with invading others’ space, so he tries to stick with “things that don’t get riled if I study them for a month.”

Maybe, though, the lost opportunities of his time in Vietnam will change his mind about taking that chance.

“There’s just stuff ... images that are in my mind that I would love to have captured, but I didn’t,” Lee says.

If you go

Michael Lee’s photographs will be on display at the Lewis & Clark Library for the fall Art Walk, which runs from 6-9 p.m. Friday. See the guide that begins on this page for complete Art Walk details.