Milwaukee: What Looking Looks Like In My Hometown
(excerpt)
A bit of history: I was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, took an early interest in drawing and movies. After a job-related accident at age 18 I was given the opportunity of higher education, wherein I learned more about art. After the accident, I acquired a 35mm film camera and dabbled in photography – never having learned developing processes, I took my exposed film rolls to the lab. I started my undergraduate years studying film history and 16mm b&w film-making, then switched to drawing and painting. After having completed my BFA and MFA studies, I taught visual art at the college-level. During that time, I eventually used digital photography to teach design principles to my students, since I began seeing design (gestalt organizational principles, learned from one of my mentors, Roy R. Behrens) present in photographs.
With each visit to Milwaukee, I like to think I learn to look more intently (and yet not with too narrow a focus, as I try to stay open and vulnerable), looking at things around me differently, with an awareness of what might constitute curious and interesting photographs - growing more sensitive to the dynamics in the visible world and my pictorial responses to it. I enjoy complexity; I like to give viewers a lot to contend with (hiding clues and keeping viewers busy with picture elements), yet I strive to maintain order in my images amid the sometimes near chaos.
--- Joseph Podlesnik