Open Doors Milwaukee-Lisa Press

For the weekend of Open Doors Milwaukee I chose to go visit the historic Pabst Brewery. I chose this building because I thought that it seemed the most interesting. However, Open Doors Milwaukee didn't really mean open doors for the Pabst building. Although we did get to see some of the old offices of the building I felt that the most interesting area was blocked off to the public. I felt that this distracted me from everything that we were being shown because we couldn't gain access to a portion of the building. Even more so this "portion" of the building seemed as if it would have been the most interesting of the tour had we been able to view it. Needless to say I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't gained as much access as I thought I would have.

Personal/Public

A place that I find public but also personal to myself is located in my hometown which is Janesville, Wisconsin. Through my route back to my hometown I see this specific place and through photography I have linked a relationship to it. This place is located on a highway road and has been much apart of my photography since high school and I have continued photographing it throughout college.

Ever since the occurrence of 9/11 the word “Pray” has been spelled out on this abandoned gas station’s sign. I also thought that it was appropriate to use this location as we just passed over the 10th year anniversary of that day. As I found it peculiar in existence I have chosen to photograph it throughout the years as documentation of the appreciation I have for it. Still to this day the sign says the word “Pray” and I feel that it is particularly important to me not only for its original meaning but for the continuation of it. I have found through conversation that not too many people recognize that it still displays this, though I still do. This is why I feel that this particular public place is unique and personal to me. I appreciate it and through documentation I hope more people come to realize its importance as well.

42.700212,-88.953493

First and foremost, I’m going to have to admit that walking was by far the best experience of the four different ways I traveled. Not necessarily because the surroundings are readily available for you to interact with but because by walking you have a longer amount of time to interact with everything you see. In Nato Thompson’s reading he states, “The art of the pedestrian has a longstanding relationship to the city.” In his reading he goes on saying how walking was the “rage” of the cities. I can completely appreciate the opportunities given when walking instead of other forms of transportation, this is also stated in Nato Thompson’s reading. Thompson states, “A sign of refinement and cultural reflection went hand in hand with a propensity for the stroll.” There are many aspects of life and cultural within your surroundings that you completely miss out on through other forms of transportation. I feel that this is why I enjoyed walking the most.

The bus was the first type of transportation I tried for this assignment. It was about 7:45 on Friday evening and I’ll have to admit I was a bit excited to take the bus considering I can count fingers for the amount of times that I’ve ridden on it. Viewing my route at night was considerably different from the first time I traveled it during the day. The amount of information I could see was muted without light however, at times there were glowing lights to present the information I had originally seen the prior day. There were quite a few people on the bus that night. I notice a few others looking back at me wondering what I’m doing observing them. One guy on the bus offered me a piece of gum, I said no thank you.

The second mode of transportation I took was my roommates bike. Considering I have never ridden a bike in a big city before this terrified me. However, I enjoyed my route because the roads were less busy. I enjoyed it for the most obvious reason and the fact that this gave me more intimate time with my surroundings. I took this route at about 10:15 on Saturday morning and the weather was absolutely perfect. It’s different viewing the route from the street like a car, but not. I can see everything, I notice every detail about the parked cars I’m passing. Almost like I could finger out a dent or already feel how shiny a car is just by looking at it from on my bike.

The third mode of transportation I took was the most obvious one, my car. I figured since I normally use this as my mode of transportation it would be interesting to see how I think on this route. It’s exactly 3:18 on Sunday afternoon and the weather is okay but aside all I feel most comfortable in this route now. Possibly because I have already taken this route three other times this week or maybe because I’m in my most used form of transportation. I have the windows down so I can feel a breeze against my hair. I see less detail from my car and if I wanted to stop and interact with something it would be almost impossible. I’ve realized people are less friendly in their cars, like they are in a protective shield of metal. It’s like they don’t care because “you can’t see them”.