Pedestrian: Love Notes to Chicago

Detail shots from “Take My Picture” tickets featured at Purple Window Gallery in May 2024.

This work is part of a series “Love Notes to Chicago” featured in a two person show titled Pedestrian Party. The show was in collaboration with oil painter Natalie Pivoney
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I often joke that most people’s first “Welcome to Chicago!” Post card is your first parking ticket and it usually arrives within the first week of your arrival.

For a number of years, I’ve been collecting images of the people who shout “Take My Picture” at me. I walk around the city and on public transit wearing a bright yellow work vest and carrying a camera as a requirement of my full time gig.

A lot of the time, I’ll see pictures of street photographers images that are in people’s faces, aggressive, or voyeuristic. Those images make me uncomfortable.

I view creating a portrait is a beautiful and intimate process. Allowing oneself to be perceived in a moment extended on film is at times a daunting process. I like to be considerate and kind in the process of collaborating to make a portrait.

These images are the antithesis the of the images I cringeworthy and uncomfortable. Instead, they radiate vulnerability and consent from the people photographed. These images are people in Chicago who often are sharing a quick moment of whimsy, fun, and silliness.

Of course there are times when people shout “Take My Picture” but I’m uncomfortable or don’t want to take the picture. I usually snap quickly and keep walking. Those images are not my favorite and most of them don’t make it to the walls of the gallery.

On the other hand, the images I choose tend to be the share a pride, joy, and silliness that made a pedestrian walk with a camera feel worth putting on a pedestal. It reminds me of one of the things I love most about the landscape of Chicago outside of ifs beautiful architecture, rich foods, and culture. It’s the people that make it feel like home.