In full habit, 80-something degrees in Central Illinois. Why not? A bundle of positive energy, Sister Sarah Roy rolled around the academic quad at the University of Illinois smiling and engaging practically everyone in conversation. The assignment was for Ladies’ Home Journal – a story about women who wore clothing that indicated their religious affiliation. A favorite few:
Posted in Portraits in places
Tagged Champaign Urbana, Ladies Home Journal, nun, Photo, photography, portrature, religion, rollerblades, university of illinois
Located at the very southern tip of Illinois, Cairo (they pronounce it CAY-roh here) is at the confluence of the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers in an area we call Little Egypt. Though the place is no stranger to flooding, it’s been an epic year. A dismal, worst-in-recorded-history kind of year. Right now the rivers are up at about 60.75 feet, and though there are walls built to hold it back, it’s clear that creative solutions might be necessary to keep the water out. This week, the Army Corps of Engineers decided, in an effort to keep Cairo above water, to blow holes in some of the nearby levees in order to redirect flood water to farmland. Understandably, farmers are not happy with this.
I’ve been to Cairo. Sadly, it’s been downhill ride there ever since shipping by river lost out to rail a long, long time ago. The streets were practically vacant when I arrived to complete a Chicago magazine assignment to photograph the Illinois stretch of the Mississippi river. I suppose it didn’t help much that it was raining, but I guess I did get a chance to photograph Cairo in its natural habitat.
When threatened by flood they fit this and other openings with gates.
Fort Defiance park is the southernmost point in Illinois -
Daryl Shemwell still runs a Barbeque place there, but I believe all the residents have been evacuated and his street’s been closed. Sinkholes.
I suppose this would be on a more federal level. Bronze Statue #4: on a recent trip to Washington DC, I found this guy inside his namesake giant obelisk.
American Bronzing claims to have bronzed over 14 million baby shoes since 1934. Although they also feature an image of a bronzed pacifier mounted on a walnut plaque, it doesn’t appear they go much further than tot stuff. The Bronzery, however, gives rates for adult ice skates ($338.95 and up for the pair). And boxing gloves ($606.95 and up per pair). Bowling pin? No prob. $235.95. A baseball’s $89.95, but a football must be problematic: “call for quote.” Rubber chicken. Bagel. Athletic supporter. Wow. I must confess it has me looking around my studio at things my own alchemy couldn’t transform.
Posted in Location/Travel Photography
Tagged art, baby shoe bronzing, Bronze statue, bronzing, Photo, photography, sculpture, travel, washington, washington monument
Yep, I save everything. Several boxes at my studio are filled with stacks of darkroom-generated prints – not the finals that would have been sent to the client, but outtakes that probably stopped short of my best attempt at the enlarger, or were a shot at a different kind of paper or chemistry. Sifting through them is the functional equivalent of hitting ‘shuffle’ in iTunes: the pictures are in no particular order, and so I never know what’s next. Some of these go way, way back.
I pulled five that, today at least, raised my eyebrows:
Pinhole photograph, Tamms Supermaximum Security Prison, Tamms Illinois. Shortly after the prison was opened, I had the opportunity to photograph the place for Chicago magazine. I’d heard the warden was especially proud of the cell doors, which featured holes, rather than bars. I shot this one with a homemade camera pressed against one of those doors, holding it for about fifteen seconds.
David Yow, lead singer for The Jesus Lizard, in a mosh pit at Chicago’s Vic Theater. I love grain.
Selmer Saxophone, Elkhart Indiana. I believe the lit box is how they put the music in ‘em.
I spent some time in Ukraine – Kiev and Yalta – on an assignment to photograph Katherine Yushchenko, their first lady at the time. This was on the bumpy flight to Yalta, after my film was sent through a 1960′s era x-ray machine. It ended well.
Sophia Loren, leaving a screening, Michigan Avenue, Chicago. In the early 1990s I was the Chicago International Film Festival’s official photographer. The fun never set.
Posted in Location/Travel Photography
Tagged black and white, Chicago, Chicago International Film Festival, color, concert, darkroom print, David Yow, factory, homemade camera, Illinois, Jesus Lizard, Kiev, mosh pit, musical instrument, Paparazzi, passenger, Photo, photography, pinhole, Prison, prisoner, random, saxophone, Selmer, Sophia Loren, Supermax, Tamms, Ukraine, Vic Theater, yalta, yushchenko
I took this picture while out on a run Friday morning, a welcome opportunity at the bottom of Tower Road Beach hill, before reluctantly running back UP Tower Road Beach hill. An hour or so later, as I checked my e-mail, I noticed a trickle. About Milton Friedman’s Salad. You can see where this is headed. The shower lasted three days, and for that I’ll be eternally grateful. Thank you, WordPress, for including me in Freshly Pressed. (Yes, the picture’s iphone, but the best camera is, as they say, the one you have with you).
Posted in Location/Travel Photography
Tagged Freshly Pressed, iphone, morning, Photo, photograph, photography, run, shower, sunrise, Thank you, Tower Road Beach hill, Wordpress
Yep, just spent time at Billygoat Tavern, made famous by the Saturday Night Live Belushi/Ackroyd/Murray sketch. ”No fries. Chips!” Sam Sianis, the owner, has worked the grill and the customers for ages. He sent me off with a smile, wave, and triple cheezborger. Part of a larger travel piece for the Weekend Wall Street Journal -
More from the WSJ feature – one of my favorite views of Chicago is at the Michigan Avenue Bridge. No matter what time of day, if the sun’s out the light bounces on the skyscraper windows, making the canyon gleam in unexpected places.
Schwa restaurant. Octopus with pineapple, macadamia nut and char, style of Hawaiian poke.
The Violet Hour, home of cocktails with a provenance -
Architect Lorenzo Piano designed the Modern Wing to the Art Institute – daytime, the gallery light is perfect. Nighttime, the outside’s a gem.
Richard Wright auction house -
The Isle of Man is a store specializing in men’s clothing and… umm.. accessories. Like flamethrowers.
Posted in Location/Travel Photography
Tagged Art Institute, Billygoat Tavern, char, cheeseburger, Cheezborger, Chicago, Chicago River, cocktail, Hawaiian poke, Lorenzo Piano, midcentury modern, Modern Wing, Photo, photography, pineapple, restaurant, Richard Wright, Sam Sianis, Schwa, travel, Violet Hour, Wall Street Journal Weekend
This past July Winkreative – a London design group started by Tyler Brule, the one who brought us Wallpaper magazine – sent me to explore the beautiful Michiana shoreline for Porter Airlines’ in-flight magazine ‘re:porter.’ The cover art for the issue was my portrait of Caroline Drier.
The family’s operated Drier’s Butcher Shop in Three Oaks Michigan for 98 years, though the space has been used that way for much longer. It’s got much soul.
Indiana Dunes State Park has Mount Baldy, another destination for the Porter piece. People trudge to the top then rocket to the bottom, tumbling and rolling most of the way.
Posted in Location/Travel Photography
Tagged Airlines, assignment, Baldy, Bologna, Butcher, Caroline, Drier's, Dunes, in-flight, indiana, July, location, magazine, Michigan, Mount, Park, Photo, photography, Porter, re:porter, reportage, run, sand, Shop, State, summer, Three Oaks, travel, Wallpaper, Winkreative
