With the world on various stages of lockdown due to the Covid-19 virus, getting out of the house for any reason has been difficult and often stressful. Like much of the world’s population, I’ve been home since mid March, often leaving the house just for groceries once a week. This has hit hard for me as an artist and photographer. Getting out of the house and being in a different space, be it a neighborhood walk or more extensive travel, has always been important for me. It recharges my batteries and invigorates my studio work. In addition, my work has become more photo based and less collage/mixed media over the past few years, and my photography has become more street-based (although its emphasis on the built environment is not what many, including myself, would consider street photography).
With travel not being possible, vacation plans cancelled, and with teaching duties finishing for the summer, I knew I had to figure something out, and decided to push myself out of the house at least once a week to shoot. This wasn’t a new idea, for years I’ve visited various parts of the city for the sole purpose of shooting. I live in Chicago, which is a fairly photogenic city with a variety of shooting experiences available, from downtown skyscrapers to commercial districts away from the city center, and affluent, well kept areas to rundown, boarded up areas well into their decline. Lots of photographic potential which I’ve explored often.
What was new was making it a weekly occurrence, and having to push myself out the door. Weeks of seclusion and lack of knowledge about the virus had me questioning how safe it was to be out in public, and I had concerns about how others would react to seeing someone wandering around with cameras when we’re supposed to be isolating. Luckily, those concerns have lessened significantly (if not completely ended) as I’ve gone out on a few photo shoots. I wear a mask, avoid others (a natural inclination as a slightly introverted person), and try to appreciate and fully experience the area I’m in while shooting. Stay at home orders were lifted for Chicago in early June, and as long as I’m being careful, I’ve felt mostly comfortable going out.
My first summer shoot was on a scorching hot Memorial Day weekend. As a test, I picked an area I figured would be pretty quiet. I went to Olde Western Ave. in Blue Island, a suburb directly south of Chicago. I’ve shot in Blue Island many, many times. It’s close to home, and has a lot of older buildings in its commercial district, which I generally favor when shooting. On all these shooting trips, however, I’d never made it to Olde Western Ave. It’s a small street, maybe three blocks in length, isolated from Blue Island’s main commercial area by the Cal-Sag shipping canal and a large bridge built in the early 1960’s which rerouted traffic. It’s a cute, quiet street with a small town feel, and these days is largely comprised of bars and restaurants (all closed when I visited). I shot along this street and some of the side streets, then walked a few blocks south, where Olde Western rejoins Western Avenue and becomes more of an industrial corridor.
Here are some highlights from that shoot.
