On Friday, January 27th, we’re returning with Brian Jacobson, a writer, photographer, and researcher whose career has included work for WTMJ, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, MKE, The Onion, Journal Times, Third Coast Digest, Urban Milwaukee and OnMilwaukee. He is also a founding member of the Coalition of Photographic Arts (COPA), and has shown his work in numerous galleries and museums. Brian spends his off time digging up clues about Milwaukee’s history, architecture and art. Below we caught up with Brian to get to know him better.

What do you typically eat for breakfast? If I’m lucky, I get scrambled eggs–done the chef way with lots of butter, salt and mixing while removing from heat occasionally. Most days, I’m rushed and I get coffee only.

What do people know you for? People may know me best from my journalism work, in which I was also the event photographer. I’ve also had a healthy artist presence with my images and often get requests for Milwaukee images.

How is Milwaukee special to you? Milwaukee is my second backyard, community, workplace, playground and research subject. I know most streets back and forth, and I have my fair share of secret hiding places to relax.

What may people not know about you? I recently took up learning Norwegian and found the accent, tones and words coming to me preternaturally (n.b. Brian’s family originally hails from Norway).

What drives your creativity? I need inspiration to create, which is easy for a photographer as every visual looks to be your next image. But to actually make something and put it out there–I need to not be distracted by the rest of life worries. I know that I have more to offer, but admittedly right now I’ve been winter fallow.

What are you going to talk to us about this month? I’m going to be addressing why we look to past masters for inspiration in our own work–and when something is missing or you discover a clue that compels you to solve a mystery, that it will take you down a plentiful road. The two stories I will be focusing on were missing art pieces from Milwaukee’s history that have fascinating backstories. Learning about the artwork’s physical life, context and the people involved can be just as interesting as the art itself. I understand Milwaukee’s subtextual culture much better from my research.

Ticket registration for “Mystery” opens here Monday, January 23rd at 11AM CST. Grab a ticket as fast as you can — they are free but limited!