A Love Letter to Chicago

On Easter weekend I took a whirlwind trip to Chicago. Only staying one night, I didn't have a lot of time to venture out into the parts of the city with the grandest gothic architecture and some of my favourite haunts, but I did manage to take along the Minolta that B gave me, and I had an absolute riot shooting up the city in black and white.

I took many of my shots at night, and didn't expect them to turn out at all. Having seen the first set that's come back I've been pleasantly surprised at how hard it is to screw anything up with this particular point-and-shoot baby. I love the Minolta. B got some extraordinary shots on it when he was doing the steam engine graveyard on one of his own treks, and while I've yet to capture anything that dramatic yet, I've had a hell of a lot of fun running around learning to be unapologetically brash with a lens.

When I went to pick the pictures up, I was disappointed to see that only one of the three sets that I had shot was back, and that they had messed it up processing true black and white film to a colour format, and that they had also seemed to lose the other two sets. I was relieved to find that the first set turned out rather cool inspite of the processing mixup, and that the missing film showed up and I was able to pick the negatives up today. I've not had a chance to look at them yet, but I wanted to share some of my favourite shots from the first batch.

Going Down

By rights this shot should never have turned out.  It was taken in a glass elevator that was descending rapidly, so I expected some level of motion blur, but there was none.  Chicago is magic for me, and the architecture of this building is one of the reasons why.  A combination art deco and Middle Eastern gothic.  Your head is constant whirling around and looking up to take in the forest of extraordinary builds all around you.  How could it not be a grand city with the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright?  In this particular shot (unretouched) I love the way the modern skyscraper in the background pales in comparison to the sturdy old deco build in the forefront.  Kind of a cool metaphor for what makes this city so spectacular.

Deco

This was also shot in the same glass elevator, now almost at the bottom.  I was again surprised by the absence of motion blur on the taxi that was racing by.  Not a spectacular shot by any means, but I love the architecture of the builds.

Tinman

Every single time I visit Chicago this bloke is out on one of the main street corners in the Magnificent Mile.  I've never heard him utter a word.  He covers himself head to toe in thick metallic paint, and does the robot dance next to a massive boombox.  There are always huge crowds around him, and I find myself just mesmerized watching him.  This was at the end of a very long night, when he was just packing up.  I asked if I could snap his pic, and caught my breath as he leaned so far over I thought he would fall.  He has amazing control of his limbs beyond the dancing, locking himself as rigid as a statue.  Was just thrilled to find him once again on the visit when I was photojournaling a city I'm so in love with.  He's one of my favourite memories every time.

Old Victrola

This was just a delicious little piece of serendipity, since I'd just finished making a set of Victrolas for my studio in Second Life.  I was walking along the street at night and stopped dead in front of this window.  The Victrola was gorgeous, and sat beside a handful of other antiquities that made this shop window absolutely stunning at night.

Atlas

Atlas ...

Poor guy's shoulders must get tired.

Cannot remember what building this clock is atop, but it looked terminally cool at night.

Inspired by the Sea

Almost seems wrong to be whoring pics of shop windows when there is so much more to Chicago, but of all the cities I've been in, the shop fronts in this one are so much more like art.  I was amazed that these pics turned out at all given so many of them were taking whilst walking, and without a flash.  It's the first time I've used true black and white film in about 25 years, and it was the perfect city to shoot in that format.  An odd little accident that the photoshop accidentally processed the film to colour instead, which uses a very different set of chemicals in the development.  I groaned when they handed me the negatives and told me about the mistake, but actually kind of intrigued by the result.

A Little Late Night Sax

You know how during a shoot there is that -one- shot that you desperately want to turn out?  This is that shot.  I was walking across the road and found this gentleman standing on the corner playing the sax.  I'd caught him earlier and just loved listening.  There was a crowd around him, and I was sure that given the absence of the flash, the fact that it was very dark at night, and the movement of my walking while snapping would have made this a write-off.  This Minolta Roan sent me is my favourite camera to shoot with.  I get the coolest vignetting around the edges of some shots, interesting light leaks and scratches, and a rock-steady picture in spite of whatever jostling I may be giving it in the process.  This bloke is part of the flavour of Chicago and one of the reasons I love wandering about at night so much.  There is always something going on.  It feels like the city never sleeps.