Chicago 2009
So here is the what will prove to be a lame post about my trip to Chicago I took back in late August to go catch NIN at the Aragon Ballroom. With a few days to kill and a cousin who lives in the city I decided to go about and explore with what time I had mostly the downtown area. All I can say is I know why Nolan picked Chicago to be Gotham. The second you stand on the sidewalk and look up at the mammoth towering buildings around you, feelings of claustrophobia and awe set in. I don’t know where or what to say about the city as I look back on it all. What I can say is what I truly love about the city is the art… it’s everywhere not only in the many museums. It’s in the buildings, the signs for the businesses, the sidewalks, the parks and even the people (most of which did not want me to snap a pic so sorry about that). Even when you are not looking for art you see it. An example for me is while waiting for the bus I noticed with my cousin how the fog/mist coming from the Great Lakes started to shroud the tops of the buildings lining Michigan Avenue. Granted there are a lot of cities where art is an important part of the town but for some reason it is just inspiring there more so (maybe because I have been to Washington D.C., New York and Philadelphia so many times). There is a vibe that just a could not put a finger on but it made me want to shoot more and more.
The museums are quite impressive. The only thing that sucks is the guards seem to be (at least at The Art Institute) on a “personal peeve” basis… meaning depending on the guard they will allow you whether or not to shoot any work. So I got a few things but not much… and anything I did shoot had to be fast due to the rest of the public so stuff came out a bit blurry. Then again when you are looking at pieces such as “Nighthawks” and then looking at a picture of that painting there just is no justice in that picture.
Below is a link to my Flickr account for a view of the shots I did take. If you are interested in any of the pics let me know and we can work on getting you a better print of them.
MH
Awesome, some of those sculptures around the city are nuts. And I see you couldn’t resist a photo of the bean. Had no idea it was a robot magnet though.