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Wisconsin Avenue
Sep. 1st, 2024 11:19 pmI had an idea for a photo project. I would walk the entire length of one street, or go as far as I could, and take photos. I’d show the nature of the street, and do it in one day. I’d been contemplating this for a couple of months, but I suddenly realized the summer is almost over. I made plans to take a day off work, and I’d walk Wisconsin Ave from end to end.
The night before, I discovered a series that an artist had done on a different street - North Avenue. North Ave is a few blocks north of Wisconsin, but much longer. She had not done the day-in-the-life thing, or at least she didn’t walk it, but she concentrated on the people there. So it was interesting to learn that someone else had a similar idea, and a great coincidence that I found it the night before.
I got downtown at 11 am. I parked and walked east to the start of the Avenue. As I neared, I realized I didn’t have a plan. All I really do is shoot buildings and street photography. Somehow I didn’t think that would illustrate the nature of the street. Well, all I could do was keep my eyes open. There is great architecture all along Wisconsin, so guess what I got a lot of photos of? I like to do street photography which would show the denizens of the Avenue, but good street shots can be few and far between.
Milwaukee has preserved many of its historic buildings. There is a lot of stone and brick. In fact, I just read a book on the use of stone and clay in Milwaukee buildings, so I was paying extra attention to the architecture on that account - stone, brick and terra cotta.
The whole avenue is about nine miles long. I walked just over five. East Town is tall buildings. Westown, past the river, is still business, but there are more older buildings. Cross the freeway and you find Marquette university. Continue west and you’ll find an area that used to be populated by some very wealthy people in their mansions. While a few have been restored, most are falling apart. Then there are a few blocks that never had their heyday. Then you cross the big bridge and can look down on Miller Valley. After that, it’s all residential for about thirty blocks, until you get to the hospital complex. There are very nice homes mixed with not-as-nice apartment buildings. It’s all pretty boring, and I’d been out for over two hours in the hot sun, so I decided to end the adventure, and walk down to Calvary Cemetery. I got a Lyft back to my car from there.
I hadn't checked how long the street was, but it seemed like I might be able to do it. Turns out nine is a bit much for me in one go. I've done that in a day in New York, but that's divided into several segments.
I ended the walk after five miles, in a neighborhood like this, of nice homes, and pretty gardens. I had four more miles to go, but much of it was the same - boring! Then I walked a few blocks south, and paid a visit to Calvary Cemetery. Maybe I’ll go back and walk the rest of the Avenue… but skip a few blocks. But I should come up with a plan. I need to figure out how to best portray the character of each neighborhood. And it probably can’t be done on one walk in one day. It may take many trips.
I posted all the photos in Substack. Clicky
A few photos are here...
The doors of Gesu Church were open, so I went in.
( six more )
The night before, I discovered a series that an artist had done on a different street - North Avenue. North Ave is a few blocks north of Wisconsin, but much longer. She had not done the day-in-the-life thing, or at least she didn’t walk it, but she concentrated on the people there. So it was interesting to learn that someone else had a similar idea, and a great coincidence that I found it the night before.
I got downtown at 11 am. I parked and walked east to the start of the Avenue. As I neared, I realized I didn’t have a plan. All I really do is shoot buildings and street photography. Somehow I didn’t think that would illustrate the nature of the street. Well, all I could do was keep my eyes open. There is great architecture all along Wisconsin, so guess what I got a lot of photos of? I like to do street photography which would show the denizens of the Avenue, but good street shots can be few and far between.
Milwaukee has preserved many of its historic buildings. There is a lot of stone and brick. In fact, I just read a book on the use of stone and clay in Milwaukee buildings, so I was paying extra attention to the architecture on that account - stone, brick and terra cotta.
The whole avenue is about nine miles long. I walked just over five. East Town is tall buildings. Westown, past the river, is still business, but there are more older buildings. Cross the freeway and you find Marquette university. Continue west and you’ll find an area that used to be populated by some very wealthy people in their mansions. While a few have been restored, most are falling apart. Then there are a few blocks that never had their heyday. Then you cross the big bridge and can look down on Miller Valley. After that, it’s all residential for about thirty blocks, until you get to the hospital complex. There are very nice homes mixed with not-as-nice apartment buildings. It’s all pretty boring, and I’d been out for over two hours in the hot sun, so I decided to end the adventure, and walk down to Calvary Cemetery. I got a Lyft back to my car from there.
I hadn't checked how long the street was, but it seemed like I might be able to do it. Turns out nine is a bit much for me in one go. I've done that in a day in New York, but that's divided into several segments.
I ended the walk after five miles, in a neighborhood like this, of nice homes, and pretty gardens. I had four more miles to go, but much of it was the same - boring! Then I walked a few blocks south, and paid a visit to Calvary Cemetery. Maybe I’ll go back and walk the rest of the Avenue… but skip a few blocks. But I should come up with a plan. I need to figure out how to best portray the character of each neighborhood. And it probably can’t be done on one walk in one day. It may take many trips.
I posted all the photos in Substack. Clicky
A few photos are here...
The doors of Gesu Church were open, so I went in.
( six more )
