As most things in our lives have turned virtual, it turns out tourism can as well. VISIT Milwaukee collaborated with two photographers and videographers to create a series of videos narrated by Milwaukee community members to help people explore the city virtually.
Samer Ghani and Andrew Kosmalski shot 30 videos of Milwaukee in just three weeks — highlighting everything from food, the arts and outdoor spaces. They fit Milwaukee’s sights, sounds and flavors into 30 seconds clips.
“I think even more so than the DNC, it was more of like let’s make sure people remember that there are good things happening in Milwaukee every day, no matter where we end up heading and that was definitely the spirit of the project,” Ghani explains.
It became commonplace for them to spend over an hour at numerous locations across the city, talking to the people there and trying to find the best way to capture the space in such a short video. As a longtime Milwaukeean, Kosmalski says this project helped him reconnect with the city he calls home.
“I’ve been here for over 30 years and to get awestruck when we go somewhere, that’s a good feeling. I feel like my city is growing, there’s always something happening even during this time,” he says.
At times, they say they felt overwhelmed with just how much Milwaukee has. While filming their video about murals, they say they felt like they found a new one around every corner.
“Each mural was so different and had a different subject to it, so it was very powerful. Some were just like nice, some of them had a very strong message back to the community. It was really cool to see all of those individually,” Kosmalski adds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-ESLrxMhrs
They both hope this will encourage both tourists and residents to explore different parts of Milwaukee and that the videos show what the city really has to offer.
