Milwaukee Women Honored in ‘Direct Positive’

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TEMPO Milwaukee is a membership organization dedicated to furthering the role of Milwaukee women in professional leadership positions. Working with the Milwaukee-based Bader Rutter creative agency, TEMPO produced a short film, “Direct Positive,” focused on more than a dozen local women who have had an impact on the city, including a Black marketing executive and a trailblazing attorney. “Direct Positive” is a selection in this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival.

With Bader Rutter’s Sarah Kmet-Hunt codirecting and Jess Ayala conducting the interviews, the women featured in “Direct Positive” sat for portraits by photographer Margaret Muza. The onetime Pfister artist-in-residence has become known for using photographic processes from over a century ago. She made striking tintypes, thin metal sheets coated with emulsion, and developed them in a dark room, endowing “Direct Positive” with unusual visual interest.

“On the set, I was there taking tintypes of each featured TEMPO member right before their interview,” Muza says. “I had my 8x10 camera from 1902 and my portable darkroom set up to one side of the room opposite to where they told their stories. It was really special to get to listen to each person's story after I took their picture.”

Muza became interested in tintypes seven years ago after reading about them. Her work has a bespoke character, an imaginative richness often lacking in today’s digital snapshots. “It still challenges me to this day, which is one of the reasons why it still holds my interest,” she explains. “I love being able to use these old cameras, and it’s really special to get to make these images for people. I think this photographic process shows us something about ourselves which is maybe just a little bit different than what we are used to. But the best part for me is the science of it. The process is really rewarding if I get the chemistry part down.”

Over two days of interviews and portrait-taking, the TEMPO women shared their stories of overcoming obstacles, including lingering attitudes on race and gender. “At TEMPO, we like to say that ‘the world moves when women rise.’ Direct Positive features a chorus of strong women’s voices sharing how they’ve risen above all obstacles to move the world toward a better future for all,” said TEMPO’s President and CEO Jen Dirks. “We’re thrilled the Milwaukee Film Festival will give this film and these women a larger platform from which to share their stories.”

“Direct Positive” will premiere on Monday, April 25 at the Oriental Theatre and be available on the Milwaukee Film Festival’s virtual platform. For more information, visit mkefilm.org.

The following women are featured in the film:

  • Denise Kohnke
  • Margaret Muza
  • Cristy Garcia-Thomas
  • Kate Braasch
  • DeVona Wright Cottrell
  • Jennifer Bartolotta
  • Margaret Henningsen
  • Ebony Ssali
  • Anne Ohm
  • Patti Gorsky
  • Lisa Cieslak
  • Linda Hogan
  • Christy Miller
  • Jennifer Dirks
  • Katina Shaw
  • Margaret Daun