Chicago, 2017

A selective “look back” at the spaces, places, moments, and corners of Chicago I’ve witnessed and captured in photos in 2017.

Every day and usually multiple times a day, I went out on my used safety-yellow bike on the same, familiar route: south through Humboldt Park, down Sacramento Boulevard to Lake Street into Garfield Park, and east through the Near West Side into downtown. I used my phone to obsessively record a slapdash running list of addresses and intersections to photograph, with identifying notes (“Demolition soon”… “Sunday morning when empty”) and best sun exposure times (“Sunrise/Early AM”… “Late PM/Sunset”). I have a thing about routines, I guess they provide a sense of security to me. And, yeah, I mainly kept to myself the entire year, wandering solo through the city and just observing (it’s my fourth year living alone after a ten-year relationship; he’s still my best friend). On the weekend, I’d do an hours-long ride somewhere further, maybe the Far Northwest Side or Englewood, roaming streets for interesting architecture and curious infrastructure. But my heart was always with the precious fading history of Chicago’s West Side and Downtown.

“The image is yours, so take it.” — Joel Meyerowitz