“I am not interested in shooting new things – I am interested to see things new.” -Ernest Haas
We are seeking an authentic view of Chicago. We aim to see Chicago anew and cast aside the familiarity of long residence. What was once a fort at the intersection of the river and the lake was gorged by commerce and traffic. The rails fed the city on corn and hogs until it was a hulking metropolis. Then a great fire consumed the city and from its ashes rose a phoenix – the Second City, larger still. Another century and a half of rail yards, architecture, immigration, agriculture and urbanization has continued to swell the city. Now our window of time is opened upon this Midwestern metropolis and it is a struggle simply to see it clearly. This city is a study in contrasts – quintessentially midwestern and undeniably cosmopolitan, a center for both political hope and political sleeze, beautiful and dangerous, frigid and blistering.
We started this blog for Chicagoans – for those who have never left, for those scattered hither and yon and for those who have yet to come – after all, there is a little Chicago in everyone. You’ll find a new photograph here every day and we hope we’ll find an audience in this brave new media. Drop by everyday and leave a comment or two – collect a few desktop wallpapers and tell your friends. If you see us out and about on a Sunday morning before dawn, hovering around a tripod, say hello. We hope to document the beaten path and the road less traveled in a new and exciting way; we make no excuses for the optimism or aesthetic we express here, our photographic vision has no room for cynicism. Chicago is out there somewhere in the bitter cold, frozen in place over the lake; it’s there in the melt-your-face summer swelter and everywhere inbetween. Camera in hand, we head out into this great American landscape to find the truly Chicagoan and to harvest it with a shutter. With hands still chapped from the wind, the L still ringing in our ears, we offer you Chicago in all its grain-belt glory.
A word about the photographers.
I grew up in the suburbs until moving to the city to pursue undergraduate and then graduate studies at the University of Chicago. I perpetually consider myself having just taken up photography recently – even though I can remember losing vital pieces of my father’s F3 in the woods of Michigan while screwing around as a kid and I appear to have a camera surgically fixed to my shoulder in my parent’s vacation photos. Most of my time and energy are spent pursuing research science, but photography serves as an excellent and vital relaxation technique. I’m still looking for my photographic voice and I hope this website will serve as a catalyst towards that end. I don’t have a personal blog, but you are welcome to follow me on Twitter.
I grew up in McHenry, IL and moved to Chicago in 2004. I started shooting in 2006 when I bought a Nikon D50. Although I’ve upgraded my equipment as my love for photography has grown, Chicago has remained on the business end of my lens since I began. When Chicago isn’t in my viewfinder, I enjoy photographing people and sports. Come and check out some more of my work at www.mikeboehmer.com and at www.mikeboehmer.com/blog or follow me on Twitter.
Alumni:
Born and raised in Wisconsin, I am a graduate student in public health. I’m fascinated by (in no particular order): science, baked goods, color, and polka dots. As of November 2009, I’ll only be posting updates to site sporadically.