Chicago 25 — Photo Series

About

A city that rewards looking up.

Chicago punches above its weight as a photography subject. The architecture is relentless — from Bertrand Goldberg’s corncob towers on the river to Louis Sullivan’s ornate Trading Room preserved inside the Art Institute. The interiors are just as good as the skyline, if not better.

This series isn’t a highlights reel. It’s a document of a week spent wandering the Loop, River North, Uptown, and the lakefront — looking for the visual logic of a city that treats design as a civic value. Twenty-five frames, one duck.

Act 01 The Streets

01 / 40

Golden hour on North Michigan Avenue — skyscraper canyon lit warm

N. Michigan Ave. — golden hour

02 / 40

Empty Michigan Avenue at dawn — Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower ahead

03 / 40

Empty Loop street canyon — skyscrapers frame the corridor, cold winter light

The Magnificent Mile — before the city wakes · The Loop — street canyon

04 / 40

Lone pigeon on a concrete overpass ledge — city infrastructure layers behind

The Loop — sole occupant

Act 02 River & Architecture

05 / 40

Chicago River at blue hour — tour boats docked, Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower lit

Chicago River — Wrigley Building & Tribune Tower, blue hour

06 / 40

Marina City towers in black and white — Goldberg's twin corncob icons

07 / 40

Marina City curved balconies close-up — repeating arches in deep teal

Marina City — Bertrand Goldberg, 1964 · Corncob detail

08 / 40

RPM Italian sign against deep blue sky — Marina City twin towers visible behind

RPM Italian — River North, looking up

Act 03 Ornate Interiors

09 / 40

Apple Store Michigan Avenue — full-height glass facade, cobalt blue sky

Apple Michigan Avenue — Foster + Partners, 2017

10 / 40

Chicago Cultural Center Preston Bradley Hall — warm marble archways and mosaic ceiling

11 / 40

Chicago Cultural Center ceiling mosaic — PLATO inscribed in ornate tile arch, warm tones

Chicago Cultural Center — Preston Bradley Hall · PLATO ceiling mosaic

12 / 40

Chicago Cultural Center golden arcade — ornate arched openings look out to the street, warm light

13 / 40

Tiffany glass dome at the Chicago Cultural Center — looking straight up into warm mosaic

Golden arcade, Washington St. entrance · Tiffany dome, 1897

14 / 40

Ornate lamppost base looking up — warm bronze scrollwork, globe light above

Chicago Cultural Center — lamppost detail

15 / 40

Dark ornate reading room at the Chicago Cultural Center — arched window frames the city

Chicago Cultural Center — north reading room

16 / 40

Chicago Stock Exchange Trading Room at the Art Institute — Louis Sullivan's ornate reconstruction

Art Institute — Stock Exchange Trading Room, Louis Sullivan, 1893

Act 04 The Art Institute

17 / 40

Bronze lion on the south entrance steps of the Art Institute of Chicago

18 / 40

Modern Wing staircase — a massive sky-blue painting covers the wall above

South entrance lion · Modern Wing — Renzo Piano, 2009

19 / 40

Small black bronze dragon sculpture on museum plinth — Japanese collection

20 / 40

New York Stock Exchange Quotations board in black and white — ornate Sullivan ceiling above

Japanese collection — bronze dragon · NYSE Quotations board, Sullivan Trading Room

21 / 40

Rainbow glass ceiling panels — cyan, orange, purple, teal in grid across the Architecture Gallery

Art Institute — Architecture & Design Gallery, color ceiling

Act 05 Coffee Culture

22 / 40

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago entrance — warm wood panel with engraved star

23 / 40

Starbucks Reserve Roastery — perforated copper roasting silos looking up from below

Starbucks Reserve Roastery — Michigan Ave. · Copper roasting silos

24 / 40

Starbucks Reserve Roastery — perforated copper cask close-up, warm amber light

The Roastery — roasting cask detail

25 / 40

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Chicago — CHICAGO spelled in hundreds of coffee jar lids on wall

The Roastery — “CHICAGO” coffee lid wall

26 / 40

Starbucks Reserve Roastery exterior at night — warm golden glow through floor-to-ceiling glass

Starbucks Reserve Roastery — exterior, night

Act 06 Transit

27 / 40

CTA underground station — lone figure in distance, fluorescent lights, industrial ceiling

CTA Pedway — underground station, Loop

28 / 40

CTA escalator in black and white — looking up from the bottom, steel panels either side

29 / 40

CTA Red Line train arriving at Belmont station — operator visible through front window

CTA escalator, B&W · Red Line arriving at Belmont

30 / 40

Fullerton CTA station — green line train visible through station frame, bright blue sky

31 / 40

Red 'hope' sculpture in Wacker Drive plaza — skyscrapers rise behind bare winter trees

Fullerton station — Green Line · “Hope” — Wacker Dr.

Act 07 Chicago Classics

32 / 40

Cloud Gate 'The Bean' in cold tones — skyscrapers reflected across the mirrored surface, pedestrians below

Cloud Gate “The Bean” — Millennium Park, Anish Kapoor, 2006

33 / 40

Gino's East — CHICAGO letters on window, city buildings reflected in glass behind

Gino’s East — “CHICAGO” window, River North

34 / 40

Chicago-style hot dog at Portillo's — sport pepper, dill pickle spear, celery salt, poppy seed bun

35 / 40

Red embroidered Chicago hat — small pink heart patch on brim

Portillo’s — Chicago-style, no ketchup · Wicker Park souvenir

Act 08 Evening

36 / 40

Five-globe ornate sconce mounted on dark marble wall — white globes glowing softly

37 / 40

Ralph Lauren entrance at dusk — dark exterior, warm light spilling from awning

Five-globe sconce · Ralph Lauren — Michigan Ave., dusk

38 / 40

Floyd's bar interior in black and white — Guinness sign, graffiti walls, bottles behind bar

39 / 40

Two pink cocktails on dark bar table — spritz and highball with mint garnish

Floyd’s — Wrigleyville · Two cocktails, North Side

Act 09 Quiet Close

40 / 40

Lake Michigan at Montrose Beach in black and white — almost empty shore, distant lighthouse

Lake Michigan — Montrose Beach

Process

How I shoot a city.

Travel photography lives or dies on what you’re willing to slow down for. The instinct is to cover ground — tick off the landmarks, move to the next neighborhood. But the shots that end up mattering are almost always the ones you stopped for longer than felt comfortable.

For this series I came in with a loose brief: architecture, interiors, and the small details that tell you where you are. No client, no shot list. Just a camera and one question: what does this city actually look like?

I shot entirely in available light — no flash, no fill. Overcast days in the Cultural Center, golden hour on Michigan Ave, blue hour by the river. The light Chicago gives you in early winter is cold and precise, and I wasn’t going to fight it. From 120+ frames, 40 made the final cut.

Camera: Canon EOS M6 Mark II
Format: APS-C mirrorless
Light: Available only
Post: Adobe Lightroom
Frames shot: 120+
Frames kept: 40

A city that rewards looking up.

How I shoot a city.

Want a lens on your brand?