Local Photographer Highlighting the Northland and Beyond

Joe Polecheck is a passionate and local photographer who uses a combination of DSLR's and drones to capture the many scenes of the Northland and beyond.

SUPERIOR, Wis. — The Northland offers so much beautiful scenery for photographers to take advantage of, and one local artist is showing us the view through his lens and how a local business is helping showcase it.

Joe Polecheck is a passionate and local photographer who uses a combination of DSLR’s and drones to capture the many scenes of the Northland and beyond.

“There’s really limitless stuff within 2 1/2, 3 hours of my front door,” Polecheck says.

From timing out the lighting during sunrise or sunset, or planning which night will have the best view of the milky way, getting into nature with his camera is one of the many reasons Polecheck loves this work. Another, is the way it impacts those who see it.

“One of the biggest things is just being able to I suppose, share a lot of things I’ve been able to see both locally and with travel. That’s one of the biggest comments that I see come across social media or over emails is, I used to live in the area 20 years ago, and it brings me home,” he said.

That customer feedback is what makes it feel worthwhile as well. His official studio is on the walls of Empire Coffee on Tower Ave in Superior.

“It’s been a nice partnership, is how he feels about being able to set up for almost 4 years there.

“Most of the time people come up, cause they’re on canvas, so they’re like wow someone painted this, and it’s like no actually someone photo’d this, this is photography and then they’re even more impressed and they’re just like, the people who do photography come in, they get a little insecure cause they’re like ‘I’m never going to be able to get this good’ kind of feedback but everyone is really, they all really love it,” Aryana Buck, Owner of Empire Coffee said.

With a constant rotating inventory, both Polecheck and Empire Coffee benefits from this. But it also gives customers some inspiration when they come in for a coffee or to do some work.

“I suppose it’s just nice to really be able to produce meaningful art for people to see. Especially in the area, were really blessed with what we have around here and it’s a lot of fun to show it,” Polecheck said.

Empire Coffee, with the help of Polecheck, also features a different artist on the front wall of the shop that rotates over time, but the chance to connect and nurture local artists is a fulfilling thing.

“Artists in general are really fun people to work with, they’re really passionate about what they do, so it’s fun to be a part of that,” Buck said.

Aside from beautiful woodsy scenes up the North Shore, some of Polecheck’s most iconic work surrounds lighthouses, and he intends to take that fascination further out of the Midwest next.

“I’m a sucker for a good lighthouse and actually that’s one of my adventures I have pending is doing a West Coast tour,” he said.

To purchase his work, and get a nice cup of joe, Empire Coffee in Superior is the place to visit.