Neil Rongstad is in the beauty business. In a way, you could almost say he acts as Milwaukee's beautician -- as a photographer, he does not change what we see, but rather how we see it.
With a strong focus on urban landscapes that tend to reveal more about their environment than originally meets the eye, Rongstad is a fine art photographer who finds his muse within challenging weather systems and variant cloud formations and admits that typical sunny days are among his most uneventful artistic moments.
It's no wonder then that he loves the city of Milwaukee.
"I've lived in Milwaukee for almost 20 years and don't plan on leaving. Milwaukee has an eclectic mix of architecture, some of which is over 150 years old. This, in conjunction with our lakefront, the river that dissects Downtown, and our volatile weather, make Milwaukee, in my opinion, a photographer's dream."
Actually, among his favorite responses to his work is, "You took that picture in Milwaukee?"
He shoots only in digital and works primarily in high-contrast, black and white imagery. A huge fan of Ansel Adams, he says he's been drawn to this kind of photography even long before he created it.
"I enjoy (Adams') work not only because of his beautiful black and white photographs of natural landscapes but also the meticulous process he followed to achieve those results. I've tried to apply Ansel Adams' techniques to an urban environment as opposed to a natural one. I am certainly not suggesting that my work is comparable to his -- Ansel will always stand alone."
Rongstad also happens to be colorblind -- a variable to his career that he sees as an advantage when trying to capture a full-color world within a black and white spectrum. Recently he admits to being smitten by infrared photography.
Infrared photography is something that goes back 75 years but it was a much more challenging medium prior to digital photography. It requires a minor modification of a digital camera but opens up a world that is invisible to the naked eye."
Blue skies appear jet black, white clouds reflect and pop, and the unpredictability of a cityscape's reaction to infrared light result in Rongstad's signature surrealist photographic mood.
This Gallery Night, The Social hosts a collection of Rongstad's work -- more than half of which was shot in infrared. Inside the converted warehouse space of the new Fifth Ward Social location, 170 S. 1st St., you'll find an artists' view of Milwaukee -- one that is dark, mysterious and full of admiration. His Social installation extends throughout the month of May, during which time Rongstad is also the featured artist at the Third Ward Starbucks location, 326 N. Water St.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
