This is the latest in a series of posts documenting a series of weekly photo shoots I made this past summer, to keep me sane while living under a pandemic. This was my thirteenth summer shooting outing, and I chose Uptown, a neighborhood on the far north side of Chicago. I spent a few hours on a humid Sunday afternoon shooting and shopping in the numerous southeast Asian groceries in the neighborhood, narrowly avoiding the strong rainstorms that blew through when I was on my way back home.
Uptown is one of those neighborhoods that has gone through many changes. Historically, it was a big nightlife area, with numerous ornate theaters and jazz clubs. Many live music clubs still exist there; the area is still known as one of the big entertainment districts in Chicago. It has also seen some not so great times. Before I moved to Chicago, back in the 90’s, I had a guidebook to the city, and I remember it referring to Uptown as a 'classic skid row' neighborhood. Like much of Chicago, however, there has been gentrification in recent years. There are still some gritty areas, and the area as a whole hasn’t gentrified nearly as much as other Chicago neighborhoods, but it’s no longer a ‘classic skid row’ either.
Uptown is also home to a small southeast Asian commercial area that most locals just refer to as Argyle St., although it is sometimes called Little Saigon. About four blocks of Argyle St., along with a couple blocks of Broadway St. either side of Argyle is home to many Vietnamese restaurants, southeast Asian groceries, bakeries, etc. I always enjoy shopping in these groceries, while I know nothing about cooking any southeast Asian cuisine, there is produce and other items I find in these stores that I can’t find anywhere else.
I shot along Argyle St., wandered along Broadway a few blocks as well, and explored a few side streets. There were more people around than I encountered on most of my other summer photo shoots, probably because I was shooting on a weekend. Some restaurants in the Argyle St. area were doing outdoor seating, and it looked like social distancing was a little iffy, so I avoided the busier spots for the most part. Still, more people appear in the photos I shot this day than in most of the photos from my other summer shoots.
Here are my favorites:
