Discovering the Photography of A.L. Brown all year long
Miltimes Photo – Albert Brown often uses his bicycle to get to and from photo sessions and he occasionally uses it to make deliveries near his Haymarket Square neighborhood.
As a boy growing up in Omaha, NE, Milwaukee small-business owner A.L. “Albert” Brown fell in love with photography soon after he sent away for his first film camera at around age 12 in the early the 1970s. It has been a lifelong love affair since then. Next year he will celebrate his 50th anniversary as a professional photographer.
For many years, Brown had his own portrait studio, first in Omaha and then in Denver where he relocated in the 1980s. The increasing popularity of digital cameras beginning in the late 1990s eventually led Brown to a radical change in his lifestyle and business model. He closed his studio in Denver, sold his car, and his professional- grade film cameras and moved to Milwaukee, partly because he wanted to live in a midwestern city with good public transportation that was about the size of Omaha.
Miltimes Photo – Over the years, Brown has settled on three basic calendar themes: “A Taste of Milwaukee,” “Calendar Book of Clouds,” and “PON: Picture of Numbers Calendar and Art Catalogue.”
Brown also stopped accepting portrait and wedding assignments, preferring instead to create a series of annual calendars. He said he was inspired to go into the calendar business after seeing the annual train calendar published by the Union Pacific Railroad, a Fortune 500 business whose corporate headquarters are located in Omaha.
“I buy relatively inexpensive ‘point-and-shoot’ digital cameras now,” he said. “It suits my needs and I can carry them around with me so that I never miss a photo opportunity” [because he lacks a camera].
Business has been good, according to Brown who said he has learned how to keep production costs down and typically sells about 1,000 calendars a year. Some local sales in his Haymarket Square neighborhood are delivered by bicycle, but the majority are mailed out. He uses his income from calendar sales to supplement his retirement income. He said his photography business gives his days a purpose and helps him stay busy.
Miltimes Photos
Over the years, Brown has settled on three calendar themes: “A Taste of Milwaukee,” the “Calendar Book of Clouds” and a deluxe, spiral- bound artistic calendar he calls “PON” (Pictures of Numbers). During his 50- year career as a professional photographer, Brown has taken thousands of photographs of numbers, prices at gas station pumps, highway signs, sale prices, etc. He arranges those photos of numbers for each day of the month and coordinates the colors with the featured photo for that month.
Often Brown will commute to his calendar photo assignments by bicycle. He said that he gets a different perspective of the city from his bicycle and the riding helps him stay in shape.
“I am a semi-tech kind of guy,” he said. “It’s not that I can’t operate tech [devices and apps]. I just don’t really want to. All that stuff is great until it doesn’t work,” he said taking his flip phone out of his pocket and smiling.
Copies of photographer A.L. “Albert” Brown’s 2025 calendars are available for sale during regular business hours (M-F 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) at The Milwaukee Times Weekly Newspaper office, 2238 N. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive. Mr. Brown will be available in person to sign calendars on Dec. 23rd, 26th, 27th and 30th from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
