Murph
DeVane

Milwaukee

Street and reportage work from around Milwaukee.

Classic black-and-white DJ portrait of a young man in a baseball cap and over-ear headphones standing in concentration behind a pair of turntables at the Wiggle Room record bar in downtown Milwaukee, his silhouetted torso and the curve of his shoulders backlit by the radiant grid of illuminated vinyl spines glowing in horizontal racks behind him, a few featured record sleeves propped face-out below the main wall, one hand resting on the deck and the other near a control as he cues the next track, captured on Ilford HP5+ pushed two stops in development for the punchy contrast, lifted shadows, and silver-rich grain that suits a working portrait of a DJ in his element
Bold black-and-white environmental study of the Wiggle Room record bar's signature wall of glowing backlit vinyl racks in downtown Milwaukee, two silhouetted heads and shoulders rising along the bottom edge of the frame as patrons lean toward the displayed record sleeves, the upper shelf rows packed with tightly stacked vinyl spines illuminated from behind, the middle rows featuring face-out album covers including Idris Muhammad's Boogie to the Top, Wu-Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M., a Dr. Dre sleeve, and the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks, the lower bins of flipping crates barely visible in the shadowed foreground, captured on Ilford HP5+ pushed two stops in development for deep velvet shadows, glowing highlight halos, and the rich silver grain that turns a record-store wall into iconic black-and-white documentary
Classic mid-century Northpoint Service Center building with weathered white siding, large plate glass windows, and distinctive angular roofline under dramatic cloudy sky, capturing small-town Americana on Ilford HP5+ 400 black and white film
Dramatic over-the-shoulder perspective of person in hooded jacket walking toward towering suspension footbridge with geometric steel truss tower featuring industrial X-pattern support beams, wooden plank walkway with rope railings leading eye toward two distant figures, framed by tall mature trees on both sides, captured on Ilford HP5+ 400 black and white film with strong leading lines and vertical composition emphasizing architectural scale and journey symbolism
Dynamic street-level portrait of a photographer crouching on an urban sidewalk while composing a shot through a camera mounted on a sturdy tripod, wearing a dark baseball cap with embroidered logo and light-colored zip hoodie, face obscured behind the camera body in a moment of focused creative intent, bare winter trees and mid-rise city buildings with parked vehicles lining the street visible in the soft-focused background, shot on Ilford HP5+ 400 black and white film with rich tonal contrast between the deep blacks of the cap and camera and the bright highlights of the overcast sky, moderate grain adding gritty urban texture to this candid documentary-style capture of a fellow photographer at work
Documentary harbor scene along a Milwaukee breakwater pier, a lone man in dark clothing walking toward the camera down the concrete walkway beside a red pipe railing while the candy-red Pierhead Lighthouse with its black lantern room stands sentinel on the left, a small open motorboat carving a wake through the channel and a working tugboat shoving a long black barge across the right half of the frame, distant sailboats and a breakwater beacon dotting the seam where Lake Michigan meets a hazy sky, the whole scene rendered in the cool, faded, slightly off-register palette of cross-processed FPP Retrochrome 400 slide film whose vintage color shift and gentle grain lend the everyday waterfront a nostalgic, sun-bleached stillness.
Abstract upward study of the underside of Milwaukee's Hoan Bridge, the tied-arch viaduct's pale concrete deck girders stacking across the frame as broad horizontal bands while the curving ribs and box beams of its substructure sweep and converge in the gaps between them, sunlight raking the soffits into planes of cream and shadow, a glimpse of riverfront industry — a brick building, tanks and a steel sheet-pile bulkhead along the water — anchoring the base of the composition, the layered geometry flattened into a near-graphic rhythm of stripes and arcs, rendered on cross-processed FPP Retrochrome 400 slide film whose yellow-shifted, faded palette and soft grain turn the massive infrastructure into a warm, dreamlike abstraction.
Low-angle perspective gazing up the flank of Milwaukee's Hoan Bridge, the tied-arch span receding in steep diagonal recession with its pale blue deck edge and golden-yellow steel cross-bracing marching toward a distant vanishing point, slender concrete piers fanning out beneath the roadway and a cluster of cylindrical grain elevators and low industrial buildings filling the Inner Harbor flats below, a few evergreen trees and a guardrail grounding the foreground, all beneath a washed pale sky, captured on cross-processed FPP Retrochrome 400 whose desaturated, vintage color shift and fine grain lend the muscular freeway structure a quiet, sun-faded grandeur and emphasize the rhythmic repetition of its supporting bents.
Vertical portrait of Milwaukee's historic Pierhead Lighthouse rising from its breakwater, the cylindrical red-painted tower with riveted steel plates, a circular porthole and a black railed gallery beneath its lantern dome dominating the right of the frame, a small cluster of visitors gathered at its base along a red pipe railing atop the timber-and-stone pier, faded graffiti scrawled across the tower's lower flank, and the calm steel-blue expanse of Lake Michigan opening to a low tree-lined far shore on the left, captured on cross-processed FPP Retrochrome 400 whose muted pastel tones, soft contrast and vintage color cast wrap the lakefront landmark in a warm, time-worn nostalgia.
Symmetrical low-angle study of Santiago Calatrava's Burke Brise Soleil crowning the Milwaukee Art Museum, the movable sunscreen fanned fully open so its tapering white steel fins sweep outward like a pair of skeletal wings from a central mast spearing straight up into the sky, the louvered ribs catching soft directional light against a backdrop of pink-tinged cumulus clouds drifting over a pale blue early-evening sky, the composition pared down to pure architecture and atmosphere with the structure floating just above the frame's lower edge, captured on Kodak Ektar 100 whose fine grain and saturated yet delicate color rendering lend the pastel sky and gleaming white wings a crisp, almost weightless monumentality.
Tight architectural juxtaposition in downtown Milwaukee pairing old and new, the cream terra-cotta corner of the historic Cudahy Tower — its Beaux-Arts cornice, balustraded setback and regularly punched windows catching warm sunlight — set hard against the deep cobalt glass-and-steel curtain wall of the modern Northwestern Mutual tower rising behind it, the reflective mullioned facade receding in cool blue verticals that throw the older building's pale ornamented masonry into crisp relief, the frame cropped so the two eras of construction press directly against one another, captured on Kodak Ektar 100 whose fine grain and rich saturation deepen the electric blue glass and render the creamy stonework with clean, sunlit clarity.
Downtown Milwaukee streetscape looking along Wisconsin Avenue, a monumental white classical-revival building with a heavily corniced, column-articulated facade and rows of dark punched windows filling the right of the frame while a cluster of older red-brick towers — one capped by a stepped, ornamented crown — recedes into the mid-distance, leafy green street trees, lamp posts and colorful banners lining the avenue below and a single car on the sunlit roadway, all beneath a clear gradient blue sky, captured on Kodak Ektar 100 whose vivid saturation and fine grain sharpen the contrast between pale stone and warm brick and give the urban canyon a clean, postcard-bright vibrancy.
Three-quarter view of the Milwaukee Art Museum's Quadracci Pavilion seen from the lakefront terrace, Santiago Calatrava's brise soleil wing rising and curling overhead in a dramatic sweep of white louvered fins while the angled cable-stayed mast of the pedestrian bridge slices diagonally across a clear pale sky, the building's glass-walled reception hall glowing dark teal beneath the structure and the flat steel-blue line of Lake Michigan stretching across the horizon behind, low foreground rooflines and walkways leading the eye up into the soaring form, captured on Kodak Ektar 100 whose vivid saturation and razor-fine grain sharpen the interplay of taut cables, curved ribs and open water into a study of motion frozen in architecture.
Upward view of the crowning tower of Milwaukee's Cudahy Tower apartments, the pale limestone-and-terra-cotta high-rise stepping up to an ornate octagonal cupola and finial set against a flawless deep cobalt sky, a decorative cartouche and rows of multi-paned windows articulating the upper stories while a lower wing and a glass-roofed conservatory atrium project into the lower-left foreground, the adjoining cream facade of a neighboring building framing the left edge, bright raking sunlight modeling every cornice and balustrade, captured on Kodak Ektar 100 whose saturated color and fine grain push the sky to a vivid sapphire and lend the historic masonry a crisp, sun-warmed solidity.
Other series: Out of Office · River Rd · Winter · Weightlifting · Wiggle Room · Homestead

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