This is my tenth ‘get out of the house and go shoot something’ excursion. I was on a roll with these shoots by now, and usually slipped into ‘photographer mode’ pretty easily when out on these day trips. This shoot was in mid-July, and while it was definitely hot, it wasn’t excruciatingly hot and humid as it was for the previous few shots. On the edge of unpleasant, but manageable.
I chose the West Loop for this shoot. This is the area directly west of Chicago’s downtown core (the Loop to locals). The West Loop is an interesting neighborhood, and one that feels completely different than it did when I moved to Chicago 22 years ago. Back in the late 90’s, it was at the beginning stages of gentrification, and still more grubby than polished. It’s an old meatpacking district, and the aging warehouse buildings made good, inexpensive studio space for artists. Artists moving in led to galleries opening, and for several years the area was the home for the newer, more daring gallery scene in town (there are still galleries left, but the new, hot gallery scene is shifting again to an area northwest of the West Loop known as West Town). Condo conversions were next, then the establishment of restaurant row, a stretch of Randolph St. that’s home to several of the best known and highest rated fine dining establishments in the city. Oprah Winfrey’s studios were in the area when her tv show was in production (the lot where her studios were is now McDonald’s world headquarters). The latest addition to the area is several new high rise residential towers, replacing low rise warehouse buildings. It’s now considered one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city. A few meatpacking places and warehouses still exist there, but the vibe is more upscale urban than grungy light industrial these days.
Given how much it’s changed, it’s a surprisingly pleasant neighborhood. The side streets are pretty quiet, and while the new condo buildings aren’t as attractive as the old warehouses, it’s still a nice place to wander. It feels a lot like Chelsea in New York, although less self consciously trendy. I don’t get to this area often anymore, I used to hit the galleries every month when the exhibits changed, but haven’t done that in several years. I also have a good friend whose painting studio was in this area, on the third floor of a crumbling building that housed an industrial machine repair service on the first floor (that building is now gone, replaced by one of the newest residential skyscrapers in the neighborhood). Walking around and shooting was enjoyable, and because I hadn’t spent much time there in quite a while, with all it’s changes it felt like a brand new place.
I must have found the area photogenic, as this was my longest shoot so far, and also the one where I shot the most photos. Going through them all took much longer than expected.
Here are my favorites:
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