The Outer Banks Voice – ‘A Photographer’s Outer Banks’ at Swells’a Brewing

By Mary Ellen Riddle | Outer Banks Voice on November 13, 2025

Michael Halminski – “ Joey O’Neal”
(courtesy of the photographer)

By Mary Ellen Riddle | Outer Banks Voice

There was one thing about Joey O’Neal that compelled Hatteras Island photographer Michael Halminski to snap his image again in1979. O’Neal labored on the Rodanthe Fish House the place he stood shirtless that day with a can of beer in hand. It was a spot the place Halminski preferred to hang around.

Joey helped with packing and getting ready fish for cargo. Sometimes Halminski pitched in, and it was commonplace to go residence with a large number of free fish. “I considered the Rodanthe Fish House a piece of local culture,” says Halminski.’” Today a lot of that tradition has vanished.”

But due to 16 photographers, the portrait of O’Neal shares area with 44 photos that immortalize the tradition of the Outer Banks within the present exhibit A Photographer’s Outer Banks, on show at Swells’a Brewery in Kill Devil Hills.

Exhibiting artists embrace Ed Tupper, Michael Halminski, Daniel Pullen, Drew Wilson, Brooke Rosell, Ashley Milteer, Brad Crittenden, Katy Harms, Peter Jeffrey, Willem Verbeeck, Katie Slater, Willow Krivesti, Ben Crum, Shane Moore, David Lowcher and Jimmy McAteer.

Brad Crittenden – “Griffin Fisheries”
courtesy of the photographer

The exhibit was curated by native photographers Ed Tupper and Daniel Pullen. They had been searching for pictures taken on the Outer Banks from locals’ and guests’ viewpoints alike. Tupper says that in selecting pictures, the thought was to indicate selection slightly than having a slew of the standard topics equivalent to lighthouses.

Pullen jokingly revealed that their inside joke was to not show pictures of the Sea Foam Motel, as it’s an overdone topic amongst photographers right here. “We just wanted a good representation of life on the Outer Banks,” he added. As a consequence, the lineup consists of numerous types and topics together with portraits, landscapes, avenue and documentary model images, nature, and browsing photos.

Seasoned and new photographers had been requested to take part “We wanted to pick some people that don’t show as much work nowadays [and] don’t have as much of like a social media presence…and just people that don’t really get to show printed work that often,” says Tupper. “I feel like the show captured every photographer’s individuality and how they see the Outer Banks,” added Pullen.

Ashley Milteer – Shipwreck
(courtesy of the photographer)

An underlying sense of time unites the exhibit, capturing every part from a line of ladies surfers ready for the best second to catch a wave in Brooke Rosell’s, Girls Club; the second when a sailboat is in peril of sinking in Ashley Milteer’s Shipwreck; and the synchronized hauling in of nets by business fishermen in Brad Crittenden’s Griffin Fisheries.

Overall, viewers can be handled to a portfolio of recollections taken by a bunch of numerous photographers with an abiding love of the Outer Banks and the talents to memorialize it.

Tupper, who processes his personal black and white and coloration movie, has been taking footage on daily basis for the final 10 years. He was a part of a staff that received a North Carolina Press Award for pictures showing within the Outer Banks publication Milepost. He sees Swells’a as a boon to the native artwork scene. The artists promote their work and preserve all of the earnings.

Through November at Swells’a, the general public can benefit from the present and even take a break like Joey O’Neal and Michael Halminski did greater than 40 years in the past and revel in a chilly one.

Brooke Rosell – “ Girls Club”
(courtesy of the photographer)

Swells’a, positioned at 1802 S Virginia Dare Trail, Kill Devil Hills, is open for views and brews Monday – Thursday 2-9 p.m. and Friday – Sunday 12-9 p.m.