My third get out of the house shooting excursion was a fun one. I went to Little Village, a neighborhood on Chicago’s southwest side. Like the nearby Pilsen neighborhood, Little Village is a largely Mexican area, with over 80% of the residents of Mexican descent. Unlike Pilsen, it’s not gentrifying, and the growing hipster presence in Pilsen is replaced here with a sturdy working class vibe. It has a vibrant street scene, with lots of street vendors along the main commercial area on 26th St. Unlike my first two recent photo excursions, which were pretty quiet, there were a decent number of people out when I was there. This was the first time in months that I’d been someplace and seen people out in the street, and while it felt a little odd at first, I got used to it pretty quickly.
I chose Little Village because I like the area, and while I hadn’t shot there before, I knew it would be photogenic. I was also hoping that 26th St. would be closed. Chicago had been formulating a plan to close certain streets to traffic, in order to allow restaurants to safely sit people outdoors during the pandemic. Several blocks of 26th St. were on the closure list, and I figured being able to safely wander into the street to shoot would make it easier to compose good shots. However, when I got there, I found the street open, even though right before I left I had read online that it would be closed. This was probably due to the recent demonstrations and looting. Several storefronts along 26th St. were boarded up, and I later read online that there was some looting in the area. Chicago being close to moving to stage 4 in it’s pandemic plan, which would allow limited indoor seating in restaurants, may also have been a contributing factor. At any rate, the non stop traffic along 26th St. made shooting a little challenging at times, but I still got some good shots. Side streets were much quieter, I was able to get some shots without trying to time them between cars.
Here are my favorites from this shoot.
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