When I started working at Wisconsin Watch nearly two years ago, the 2024 election was quickly approaching. In my role as the sole staff photojournalist, I began collaborating with my colleagues deeply reporting investigations and explainers that held power to account and explored solutions to the biggest issues facing our state: health and welfare, government, education and employment, agriculture and the environment and justice and safety.
As my colleagues followed timely news hooks for their election coverage through breaking news and investigations, I wanted to spend more time with the people behind the headlines. That planted the seeds for Public Square, a series of profiles exploring the lives of voters from across the state — not just recording who they planned to vote for but understanding why and documenting the daily experiences that shaped their decisions.
Soon after I began working on the original series of voter profiles, we realized this project was about far more than a single election and would require more time, care and energy to give each story the attention it deserved. At the time — and still today — I was thinking a lot about how politically divided this country and Wisconsin can feel while also hearing about the decline of third spaces: public places beyond work and home where people gather and build community. As more of our lives moved online, those spaces seemed to shrink or be forgotten.
Public Square became a direct response to those questions about where people can still find connections, regardless of political identity. As I traveled across the state, we introduced readers to their neighbors and invited them to suggest who we should talk to next. As the series grew, we aimed to highlight the roles people play in their communities, explore the issues shaping their lives and pair those stories with portraits.
I photographed this project on medium-format film using a 1950s-era Yashica-D camera that produced square images — an approach that slowed the portrait process and helped me connect with each person I photographed. Pairing these images with the concept of meeting people where they gather and build community inspired the project’s name.
Over the last two years, this project has come to reflect Wisconsin Watch’s evolving mission: using journalism to help make Wisconsin communities stronger, more informed and more connected. As we report on the issues shaping people’s lives, we hope our work not only holds power to account but also helps people feel seen, better understand their neighbors and engage more deeply in civic life.
On Saturday, June 6, Wisconsin Watch will host a free, live outdoor exhibition and community conversation in Green Bay’s St. James Park. Large-format photography prints from Public Square will be displayed throughout the park alongside excerpts from reporting that provide context and insight into each story. I’ll moderate a panel discussion featuring local residents highlighted in the project’s images, with a Q&A to follow. Attendees will receive a free zine, and the installation will remain in the public park for three weeks following the event. You can sign up here.
If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll attend and spend some time reflecting on how you connect with your own communities. I’m excited to see you there.
