With his new project, a University of Wisconsin professor aims to capture the essence of the community through photographing the books it reads.

Both a teacher and active artist, Jim Escalante’s latest project combines his lifelong passions of books and photography. The project, consisting of 20 photographs of the window display of Paul’s Book Store on State Street during the past two years, opened for public exhibition Friday at Madison’s Central Library.

The increased presence of digital alternatives to physical books such as the eReader and Kindle has served as a source of inspiration for Escalante. He sees the project as a glimpse into a period of time experiencing a shift in how text is published, accessed and marketed, he said.

“Books are now a very small portion of what people can use to learn about the world or gain inspiration,” he said. “They’re caught in this moment of time where there’s the possibility where there are going to become fewer examples of physical books as opposed to digital forms of books.”

In addition to highlighting the significance of physical books, Escalante said his project is meant to reflect the local culture of the campus and the city over the last two years.

“You have iconic books that were important to different audiences in Madison,” Escalante said. “Some of them are subject matter that are internationally loved like dessert, and then some of the other books are about events that Madison played a role in, about people who came from Madison or about important things in Madison.”

As a UW faculty member, Escalante divides his time between teaching art courses and serving in the dean’s office at the School of Education as an associate dean for faculty.

He teaches courses related to the art of bookmaking and photography, Escalante said.

Escalante formalized his passion with photography at North Texas State University, where he completed his undergraduate degree with a concentration in photography, as the campus had a strong program.

He then earned his master’s degree in 1981 in typography and photography from UW. After teaching graphic design for eight years at Southwest Missouri State, now called Missouri State University, Escalante returned to Madison in 1989 as a faculty member. He has since taught courses related to book arts and letter press.

But Escalante’s interest in photography sparked while he was growing up in Mexico City, when he was exposed to the photographic work of Lazaro Blanco, his ninth grade science teacher.

“My ninth grade science teacher was balancing work as a science teacher and was aiming to become an artist-photographer,” Escalante said. “He was the first inspiration I ever had, and was the first one who ever said to me a photograph by itself could be an art form.”