A Colorado man is traveling to Oakes, N.D., in search of information on a woman he only knows through photographs.

The journey is the beginning of a multi-year project Roddy MacInnes hopes will culminate in a photography exhibit and possibly a book.

MacInnes, 51, of Boulder, was first introduced to Nina Weiste in what he calls a “junk shop” in Colorado. That’s where he discovered photo albums dating back to 1917 that belonged to the then-young woman.

MacInnes, who teaches photography at the University of Denver, had to do some detective work in finding out where Weiste came from. One of her photos referenced the Jim River, so he typed that name and her own name into an Internet search engine, and he found Oakes.

That’s what led him to the Dakotas. MacInnes says he’s just kicking off his project. He came through Aberdeen Thursday and planned to meet with members of the Dickey County Historical Society on Friday.