A Wisconsinite’s journey of discovery
Mark Brautigam never spent much time in Milwaukee. Scratch that. He grew up in Franklin, just south of the city. Yet, despite his roots here, he admits he fell into the trap of taking his home—this place—for granted.
It was home, after all. Day after day of traveling familiar routes can blur the details. Over time, the mind fills in what it expects to see rather than truly observing. Even the grandest landmarks can fade into the background—unnoticed, underappreciated.
After years photographing across Wisconsin and beyond, the pandemic brought everything to a halt. Confined to the city he’d always known, Brautigam decided to step outside and see it anew. What he discovered felt both familiar and entirely new.
“One day I decided to just walk along Lake Michigan, and it struck me that even though it has been the backdrop of my life for about 50 years, I never really paid close attention to it,” Brautigam said. “When I started to pay more attention to it on walks, I noticed that it has so many different moods. It can be like glass one day and a raging storm the next. There can be a rainbow or the moon can be rising over it and there are a million different ways the clouds can be arrayed over it.”
Photography became Brautigam’s creative outlet during his time in the Marine Corps. While stationed in California, he realized the “crummy, snapshotty” camera he had didn’t do justice to the incredible places he visited while touring aboard a Navy ship. When he returned to shore, he bought a Nikon—and his artistic journey began.
Capturing landscapes became his passion. That continued when he came back to Wisconsin. Driven by a sense of wanderlust, he set out to explore parts of the state he had never seen. That journey led to his first photo series, On Wisconsin, some of which is now displayed in the South Building of Baird Center.
“I would literally just throw my camera in a car and drive around Wisconsin because I had never really explored the state when I was younger. But when I came back to Wisconsin after being stationed as a Marine in California, I told myself that I was going to truly experience the state. I learned a lot during those trips and gained an even greater appreciation for Wisconsin.”
So, when the opportunity came to contribute to the We Energies Foundation Art Collection, Brautigam submitted two pieces from his pandemic-era reflections: Lake Michigan 5.17.23 and Bradford Beach.
Both works use a diptych technique—two photographs placed side-by-side to tell a broader story. Take Bradford Beach. Though it looks like a single moment captured at a Milwaukee landmark, it’s actually two separate images, taken at different times.
The same approach applies to Lake Michigan 5.17.23, which highlights the surface of the lake itself. Brautigam spent countless hours studying the interplay between sky and water, capturing the mood and movement of a place he once overlooked—but now deeply cherishes.
“Lake Michigan really is a magnificent geological feature,” Brautigam said. “My hope is that people can see this and appreciate more about where they live, especially those who live or visit this great body of water. And, more importantly, that we take good care of it.”
Lake Michigan 5.17.23 and Bradford Beach are part of the We Energies Foundation Art Collection located at Baird Center. Brautigam is one of the thirty-three artists, most from Milwaukee, Wisconsin or with special ties to the area who have works featured in the collection. You can discover more about the artists and their works at https://bairdcenter.com/art-collection/.