12/23/19 – The Patricia Barber Trio performed at Chicago’s Green Mill during their regular Monday night residency. Songs from her highly praised latest album, “Higher”, were featured. Barber on piano, Larry Kohut on bass, and Jon Deitemyer on drums.

Rocking Chair on the Porch of a Hyde Park Chicago Home.

The Nite Cap is a late night coffee house and bar.

The Lookout is ornamentation I saw on an old elementary school while bicycle riding through a Humboldt Park neighborhood. 

A huge crowd basked in the sun at a neighborhood art fair. I saw this woman relaxing in the sun while she listed to a rock band on stage. Just taking it all in on an easy summer Sunday.

Summer is here for sure when the Blues Festival kicks into gear. Here is how things looked in the park along Michigan Avenue. Sounded great. Looked great. Only got better after that.

Many buses end and begin their routes at this Navy Pier location in Chicago. Crowds jump on and off, then ride north, west or south to all parts of the city.

Andrew Spear plays music from The Beatles’ Abbey Road album as Aaron Wooten paintings look on at Chris Anderson’s Jazz Record Art Collective in Chicago.

“Wires On A Cloudy Day” Sometimes the gift is right in front of you. Simple. Obvious. I think this is a gift.

“Linda’s Flower Shop” Here is my spin on a photo made to look like a painting. This scene helped me out when I wanted to do something thoughtful and fun for a friend in the hospital

“Lake Street Corner” … the curving shadows that the elevated tracks made on the street… lead me to eliminate all color. When I did I discovered new possibilities about what to include and how to crop this image making it look like a lithograph or etching. 

“Integrating Industrial Design With Nature” I shoot what I see and when I see something that is beautiful to me I have to capture it, then explore why. Here are lines and colors that could easily be dismissed unless I isolated them and experimented with colors and textures to arrive at a pleasing result.

“Howard Street Underpass” This is a color photograph of a section of Howard Street in Chicago at night. All the elements seemed to be positioned just right. Processing for details and color was my exploration.

This is the Grand Avenue Subway Stop for trains going north to Howard Street. I captured it while exploring the use of blurs in projects. 

“Evening Dance – Winter” Traffic patters make some interesting designs. Here is one captured from the 27th floor of a downtown Chicago building in winter toward the end of an evening rush hour. Buses, taxis, and commuters going every which way. 

“Duks At Night” A special place to find greasy salted French fries, char-broiled hot dogs, chili, and a beverage late on a cold rainy night. Proof that man is not rational. Yum!

“Urban Sketch #37” There are times when I just have to make an image. Right now, wherever that may be. I captured this scene with my smartphone while riding on a bus. Later I cropped it and experimented with a wide variety of filters and adjustments to finally achieve this result. Making a photograph look like a painting, sketch, or etching is fine with me. The end justifies the means…even when you don’t quite know where the end is.

“Crossing State and Adams” The challenge here was to change the scene so that people could not be identified. In the process I tweaked colors and made the architecture look like it had been painted. Shadows were fun to play with too. I like how they help frame the image.

If ever there was a scene begging to be photographed it was this one. My mind saw a finished print before I even snapped the shutter. Had to be a toned black and white with wet pavement and warmth radiating from the noodle shop. 

A good street photography exercise for me is to find, frame and shoot quickly as I explore the city. Here is an image found while the bus I was riding on stopped to pick up passengers.

As I waited in an old Chicago neighborhood on a warm sunny day for my client to arrive the buildings and doorways came alive with their stories of lives over the years. Here is a section of the kind of fire escape that once was seen everywhere. Now they are rare. I wondered if it has ever been used.

This scene was screaming to me to be captured. More color, more detail, more lines. I had to force myself to stop.

“Cityscape #104275. Bitter Cold But Still A Beauty” was photographed from the 15th floor of a hospital campus building in downtown Chicago. A peak of Lake Michigan can be seen in the distance.

“Couple At The Clipper In Another World” is a late night scene at the California Clipper in Chicago.

Jorma Kaukonen at Delmark’s Riverside Studio in Chicago for Dave Specter’s new blues album.

The Chris Greene Quartet, CGQ, performs their new album release, “Play SPACE” at SPACE in Evanston, IL.

Dan Chase plays as Amanda Wolff sings Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady” at Chris Anderson’s Jazz Record Art Collective, JRAC, in Chicago.

“Muddy, Horns & The Clock” From my town to yours…I am using the public mural designed by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, the holiday horns hanging over State Street from Macy’s, and the original Marshall Field & Co. clock to send out my Happy New Year wishes to all.

Here is a slideshow that documents some of the 45 performances that Chicago’s Chris Anderson organized for his creation, the Jazz Record Art Collective – JRAC – during 2018. The guy never sleeps. Knows his […]