Tag Archives: illinois

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Structures and Objects, Photographs: Urban/Street

Textures and Reflections

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Textures and Reflections
Textures and Reflections

Textures and Reflections. Chicago, Illinois. August 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Detail of a Chicago riverfront building with distorted window reflections

As is the case with a number of the Chicago photographs that I made during our August 2014 visit to the Windy City, this one was made from a boat on the Chicago River. We rarely do “tourist things” when we visit cities, usually preferring to look for more interesting stuff, but everyone we know who had been there recommended the Chicago architecture boat tours, so we gave in and took one. I have to say that it was worth it — the tour combines an intense overview of a lot of downtown Chicago architecture, a lot of background information on the structures and the development of the city, and a unique view that isn’t really available in any other way.

There is almost too much to see on the tour, since Chicago’s downtown is dense with interesting features large and small, and the boats don’t pause to let you gawk! So I photographed a lot, trying to vary my focus between the large and impressive downtown buildings and smaller details down closer to the river. This photograph falls into that second category, and is “about” the shapes and textures of the bit of a more modern building and the very deformed reflections in its windows.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Chicago Waterfront

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Chicago Waterfront
Chicago Waterfront

Chicago Waterfront. Chicago, Illinois. August 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Yachts tied up along the Chicago waterfront near the mouth of the Chicago River

This photograph was made from one of the Chicago architecture tour boats as it paused in the small bay near the mouth of the Chicago river before turning and heading back into the river. This location momentarily provided a bit of distance between my position and the buildings and gave me a clearer shot of the group of them, and the low position on the water emphasize the height of the buildings.

If you like the combination of very new and slightly old architecture found in Chicago — and I do — a view like this one seems to perfectly capture the ideal image of the lake front of this city. Producing a form that reminds me of ascending mountain peaks, each building is part of a progression that culminates in the tallest building whose mass is mostly hidden by those in front.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Bridge Tender Tower

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Bridge Tender Tower
Bridge Tender Tower

Bridge Tender Tower. Chicago, Illinois. August 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Chicago bridge tender “house” or tower, West Chicago Street Bridge.

I had notice one or two of these buildings previously, but had not thought too much about them. The most recent time I thought about them was in relationship to a photograph of another downtown Chicago subject that included the tops of a couple of these buildings, and I was trying to figure out what the call them in the photograph data. On that photograph, since the building wasn’t really a primary subject, I eventually probably just called it “building” or perhaps nothing at all.

However, this photograph features one of these structures as it predominant feature. On the river tour we saw a lot of them, and I eventually figured out the obvious — that they had something to do with the operation of the bridges. As I worked on this photograph I finally looked them up and discovered that they are called bridge tender towers or bridge tender houses. They apparently were the control points for the mechanisms of the bridges, Which can be raised to allow taller boats to pass through. I thought this one was especially remarkable and unusual. Many of the others seem to be made entirely of stone and often in what I would characterize as an art deco style. This one seems like some odd hybrid of medieval jail/tower and ships cabin, and the blue color is very striking, too.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Chicago, Photographs: Urban/Street

Blue Building, Bridge

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Blue Building, Bridge
Blue Building, Bridge

Blue Building, Bridge. Chicago, Illinois. August 2, 2014. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Chicago bridge against the background of a modern blue building

When I began to go through my photographs from this August 2014 Chicago visit, I was surprised at home many of the downtown architecture photographs — at least those that didn’t focus on the older stone facade buildings — featured the color blue. It seems to be found everywhere. In many cases it is just a matter of the building actually being constructed of blue materials, but I think that Chicago’s relative openness to the sky may emphasize the effect even more.

One of the river bridges makes an abbreviate appearance near the bottom of the frame, with its bridge tending house poking up above the deck of the bridge. Beyond is a fairly typical — to me, at least — wall of modern Chicago buildings, towering above the streets and once again featuring that blue color.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.