An apartment rental agency located in the trendy/funky/arty neighborhood of Wicker Park needed a visual representation of the high points of the immediate area to assist them in renting local properties. They contacted me to produce a 20-foot wide mural of the nearby attractions. The dozens of images in this collage include churches, school, restaurants, clubs, signage, nightlife, public spaces, and people simply enjoying the vibrant neighborhood.
In the week leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, about two dozen Chicago buildings and icons were illuminated green to showcase Chicago’s Irish pride. This Global GREENing project (locally called ShamROCK Chicago) also saw famous landmarks around the world also lit green, such as the Sydney Opera House and the Eiffel Tower. I was commissioned by Tourism Ireland to document all the local buildings glowing green; an amazing project except that the Chicago winter was cruel that week and my fingers were turning green from frostbite. That might be a lot of Blarney, but these photos are colorful evidence that Chicago is the most Irish city this side of Dublin.
I am fortunate to live just a few blocks from one of the world’s great universities. Students lovingly describe this institution of higher learning as the place where “fun comes to die”. Personally, I think they make this proclamation to mislead their parents so they can justify the $40,000 per year expense. Nestled in the leafy neighborhood of Hyde Park–home of Barack Obama and the first A-Bomb–the university is a mix of Gothic and modern architecture. There are more Nobel Prize winners here than neighborhood bars–how many large universities can make that claim? In fact U of C has the most Nobel winners of any school in the world. The university offers a never-ending subject for my photography as new buildings appear on a regular basis, and each season brings new discoveries.
Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods, each with it’s own ethnic identity. It’s no surprise that public art appears on walls throughout the city representing the local culture. Here is just a sampling of murals (or you may call it graffiti) in some of Chicago’s vibrant neighborhoods.
While it’s only a short subway ride from downtown on the Blue Line, Wicker Park is worlds apart from the buttoned-down 9-5 workday of the Loop. The epicenter of this urban melting pot is a large intersection known as Six Corners. The three major avenues that meet here are North, Damen and Milwaukee, but the neighborhood is also a confluence of three cultural byways: hipster, artist and starving student. While there have been no scientific studies, researchers have postulated that there are more tattoos and piercings in Wicker Park than BMW’s in nearby Lincoln Park. Cafes, used bookstores and dive bars abound, and exist gracefully among $300 designer eyewear and Prada bags. Stop by on Gallery Night at the Flatiron Building and everyone comes out to strut their respective stuff while pontificating on modern art and free vodka.
