I am going to turn down the ingame brightness and see if that makes any difference.
It's the only thing different between my and your screens since I have mine turned quite low for this game and I used the same NI settings you posted. The brightness you need in the sewer to see the first safe code sets you up for a really washed out look once you arrive at the Hound Pits. I have never experienced darkness remotely like that of the sewers since then, so I'd advise anyone to turn brightness way down after escaping. It's still somewhat of a band-aid because as beautiful as the game is, it is inconsistent with lighting across the board. The only difference is I post screens of the areas with proper lighting and avoid the rest. The Hound Pits and some of the interior Golden Cat (again, while beautiful!) remain disappointments to me in terms of lighting, while the Boyle Estate had the best lighting and blacks thus far and I wanted to show it off.