Forget San Francisco; I’ve left my heart in Chicago. I arrived with only one goal in mind–to see the Henri Cartier-Bresson Exhibit with friends. The whole trip started out when Mark Olwick said he’d like to see the exhibit in New York and then I said we should see it in Chicago so that Sue Ables could join us and before we knew it, we were planning a weekend there. We were soon joined by Stuart Sipahigil and couldn’t say no to Marco Ryan who hails all the way from Egypt. Acquaintances through photography or Twitter when we first met up, we are now all firm friends and already in the throes of planning our next rendez-vous.
I digress; let me get back to Chicago. There is a mid-western sensibility that felt very comfortable to me having spent a few years north of the border in Winnipeg. Make no mistake though, it is a big city and for the first four days there I found it difficult to photograph. Then it came to me–I needed to experience Chicago not as a tourist but as one who was part of the city when there were no visitors around. To do this I had to explore the streets before dawn. This is my story of Chicago when the city is in between night and day, when her guests are still sleeping and her residents have the place all to themselves.
The image at the beginning of the post is a restaurant just across the street from our hotel. It was about 5:30am and this man were already getting ready for the breakfast crowd. In a previous life, I used to be a partner in a restaurant and I know the long hours that go into running food services. I don’t miss it at all. Above are two construction workers at a site a block down the street. There was a hole in the tarp that hung over the safety fence and with the floodlights, I could clearly see them hard at work already.
Here a street maintenance worker cleans a bus shelter outside one of Chicago’s modern office towers. I watched from across the street as he cleaned every panel from top to bottom. People who work as hard as this when no-one is looking always impress me. They are internally motivated to take pride in their work and those are the best kind of employees.
I saw the back of this newspaper delivery truck somewhere on State Street and I chased after it (literally) in the hopes that it would stop long enough for me to get a photograph. As I rounded the corner, I made a few images from where I stood but I ventured closer to see if there was anyone inside. That’s when Anthony asked me why I was photographing the truck. We talked for about 10 minutes and I made a new friend. We shook hands and I went on my way.
I love trains. When I was a kid, I used to wave to the train engineer from our verandah even though he couldn’t see me. It’s a silly little ritual really but sometimes I still wave at trains when they go by. When I spent my first summer in Japan, I fell in love with the sound of the train on the railway tracks. I find it soothing and I can fall asleep to its rhythms but here the city is hurtling towards a new day and there will be more about that in my next post.
Wow. What a wonderful series of images. Can;t wait to see the remainder. (Not sure whether my first comment posted so apologies if this is repetition)
I love the use of Black and White to give it a reportage feel and it amplifies the transition from night to day, when these were shot.
I love the fact that you spent a few days working out what you wanted to shoot, and the results more than justify the approach. You have captured a Chicago that few visitors seldom see and that most locals never experience. I love them all, but I think the 4th image of the truck and the roadsweeper is the most complete.
I love the message that this is real Chicago, everyday life mirrored by the road sweeper. It has a great dynamic, tells a real story, and it beautifully composed and exposed.
Can’t wait to see the rest, but I think that between you and Stu demonstrating how Chicago should have been shot, I might not process the rest of my images as they won’t get close!
A wonderful series, Sabrina. Very inspiring
Isn’t that strange, Marco that I felt the same way about your and Stuart’s images? Your blog post on HCB just floored me, not because you were able to distill your thoughts so quickly and succintly but to also give yourself an assignment to solidify your learning. And there was Stuart’s “Blue Chicago” set. You’ll be lucky if you see a single image of mine from that cruise!
The lesson for me in all of this is that when one gets together with their creative peers, everyone benefits. I am waiting with bated breath to see Mark O’s images. I have a feeling they will appear in a gallery in the not too distant future
Lovely series you. It’s a weekend of epic blog posts. Love that last photo. I too wave at train drivers. Sometimes they wave back
I knew there were at least 100 reasons why I liked you! Now I won’t feel so silly when I wave to the engineers even if they don’t always wave back. Loved your first Tug Boat Dreaming post and I’m looking forward to seeing more soon…
Hehehe, yeah I’m a big daggy kid. Can usually be counted on to get fairy floss all over my face when eating it, wave at train drivers etc. I’d light up a million watts if I was ever offered to drive a train/tug/bus.
Is there a part 2 to your Chicago story??
Well I originally intended a Part 2 but after reviewing images, I’m going to have to take a different approach.
Ah, i knew there was going to be at least 5 parts to this story
The images are beautifully done, Sabrina. Quite a fly-on-the-wall photojournalistic feel.
Every image has a solitary or intimate feel; a town-in-stasis. For me, it’s because most have just a single person in them, (except the construction workers, but the tarp even gives them a feel of seclusion) doing some sort of work preparing the city.
You could have captured a simple portrait of Antony, but instead you captured him sweeping. His typical morning routine, I assume. I like it.
The pictures really capture another side of Chicago – really it could be any number of cities though.
Thank you Matthew. I have noted with interest the last bit of your comment and I hope to be able to address it somewhat in a later post.
Sounds like a great time, Sabrina. My wife is originally from Chicago but I’ve personally never been there. I love you’re inspiration of capturing the cities flavor in the early morning hours, and your photos are indeed wonderful.
Earl, you have to visit at some point even if you’re not a big city guy. I’m not a city person by any stretch of the imagination but Chicago resonates like one of those people who never forgot their roots. I’m also not a morning person so this was quite a departure for me.
Nicely done, again! The big cities are different subject to photograph than the midwestern plains, or Rocky Mountains, or coastal areas. These images demonstrate you did experience the city. I really like the last one of the train! Looking forward to seeing more images.
Hi Monte. I do have to admit that I have a hankering to photograph some landscapes just to feed that part of my creative soul. Maybe one of these days we might be in the same place and we can go out together with our cameras
Really beautiful, Sabrina! I love the black-and-white treatment. Each image has a decisive moment, but I think I like Anthony and the train most. Very evocative compositions. Can’t wait to see more!
I appreciate your kind words, Dorothy. I do hope the rest of the images hold up! I’d love to hear what you think of them so please pop by again.
Wow, these are fantastic and haunting. I love shooting at this time of day. Life goes one, but many don’t realize it. I especially love the shot of the Sun-Times truck. The very first time I went to Chicago, I was a working reporter and had press passes to get onto the field of the old Comisky baseball park – the oldest in the majors at the time and was being torn down at the end of the season. Another reporter friend and I took a roadtrip from Pennsylvania to Chicago and we were thrilled to see the Sun-Times and Trib buildings, homes to fantastic newspapermen.
Also love the El Train shot. Print it. Big.
Mark, right about now I’m glad I ran down the road after the Sun-Times truck! It is the image from which I took the title of this series and it’s one of my favourites too.
I was thinking of asking the Chicago Photo Group of putting together a compliation of our images as a keepsake like we did at the Freeman Patterson workshop. Maybe my contribution would be the El Train
I just can’t stop looking at these. Every time I see something new; some context, a gesture, etc. I get that early-morning-and-no-one-is-around feeling from all of them. Like Mark, I really like the newspaper truck and the El Train shot, too, but the first one just floors me. It feels a bit like Henri Cartier-Bresson, but also reminds me of Edward Hopper’s painting, “Nighthawks.”
Well done, Sabrina.
I guess you could say I was inspired by the surrounding talent, Stuart! One of the things I am really enjoying in the comments is what you’ve expressed here and that is, everyone is finding something different in these images. Something that resonates for them.
I can’t wait for our next trip!
Love these – especially the train
Thanks Eli. You’ve got to know that you were there in spirit with us. Marco and Stuart made sure of that
I think I know exactly what you mean. Both times I have been to Chicago it was for conferences and trying to get photographs in between seminars etc. was a nightmare. I didn’t really experience the city like I should have. I need to go back as a non-conference participant. One thing I will say though, I did enjoy the place. Nice work Sabrina.
Hey Ed! Are you ready for my New York visit? I’m really quite apprehensive about it. I am curious how different it will be from Chicago. In fact Anthony and I discussed it during our short conversation and he even threw LA in the mix.
Excellent images, Sabrina. But, one thing is really bothering me…Forget San Francisco??? =)
Oh Jeff, please don’t worry. I just needed a line to hook people into the post. San Francisco is like an old flame; Chicago is like my new fling. There’s room for both of them in my heart. Your job will be to rekindle the old romance when I next visit!
I really like your approach to shooting Chicago. You found the under belly and found out how it ticked. My fav photo is the Chicago Sun truck from the few above. Great work, Sabrina.
Thanks Chris. I love how you’ve described my approach!
Hello Sabrina, your photographs are very good. The are very inspiring. I like the train most!
I had the joy to see Stuarts photographs and wish I would have been there in Chicago too. Just bought a book from Henri Cartier-Bresson to have a deeper look onto his work.
I am a participant of the ITWF-Workshop in Arpil 2010 and joined the group a week before Marco and Stuart joined it. I like your posts and will say »Thank You«.
Looking forward to your next post.
Cheers, Jens
I love this series Sabrina – and I love the fact that there are people in them. I have seen many photos of Chicago and most are about the architecture (and they are wonderful Stuart) and this series is a whole new view – I like the underbelly term used by Chris. Seeing the photos and reading the comments blogs from the creative people who got together is inspirational and I am a little jealous too – it is time to get together with friends to shoot here in Ottawa or away.
Well done!
I’ve always loved the idea of a city being an entity unto itself, that it breathes and exists when there are very few people around to notice. During the busiest times of the day it appears as if the city is servicing the people, but you’ve shown that in the early hours, it’s the other way around.
Lovely series of images, I too like the city before dawn. Before the city has woken up, there is a completely different atmosphere and calm before the storm. I like the dynamics in the train image.
Waving at trains eh. Love it! Were no trains where I grew up, but plenty of animals on the farm. I cannot walk past a dog without looking it in the eye smiling and saying (out loud) “hey doggie”
[...] by amazing photographer, Sabrina Henry (who i recently discovered on Twitter) and her few last posts about Chicago i traveled down town Cracow this weekend with strong determination to photograph my city. I decided [...]
[...] teachers. Sabrina Henry was in Chicago recently and woke up early to watch the city come to life. Her images are wonderful. The black and white treatment makes them especially evocative to me. Eli [...]