For the cover of our last print issue of 2022, we wanted to capture the spirit of the year, as we see it, in our own Reader way. We asked photographer Carolina Sanchez to see if she could find a street musician who was being ignored, a situation which many can relate to as the […]
Tag: photography
Posted inStreet View
Family style
Alanna Zaritz, 39, was born and raised in Chicago and is one of our city’s treasures. She is a familiar, welcoming, and eye-catching figure at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), where she has worked since 2005 (she’s currently the MCA’s store manager). Zaritz’s awe for her hometown is contagious, and very handy, since […]
Posted inArt Feature
Jessica Labatte finds beauty in the detritus of everyday life
Being a parent requires attentiveness, and when you can muster it, patience. In many ways, parenting small children is not unlike being an artist; both necessitate curiosity, mindfulness, and a certain amount of nimbleness. The works in Jessica Labatte’s solo exhibition at Western Exhibitions, “Knee-deep in the cosmic overwhelm,” form a web of connections between […]
Posted inNews
Central Camera Co. stays focused
The century-old camera store has weathered a fire, a flood, and COVID-19.
Posted inCity Life
Photos: 2022 Chicago Pride Parade
In late June, the Chicago Pride Parade returned to its in-person glory after two years of delay and cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of people headed for the north side on Sunday, June 26, to celebrate and honor the LGBTQ+ community. Marchers, drivers, and floats representing a variety of community, civic, and commercial […]
Posted inMusic
Paul Natkin, concert photographer
Chicago native Paul Natkin is a prolific concert and portrait photographer who’s shot more than 4,300 musicians and celebrities since he started his career in 1975. He’s also worked as road manager for the likes of Brian Wilson and Alice Peacock and tour photographer for the Rolling Stones. His images have appeared in so many […]
Posted inCity Life
Photos: opening reception for Brandon Breaux at Blanc
Our contributor Isa Giallorenzo attended an opening reception in April for artist Brandon Breaux’s solo exhibition “BIG WORDS,” which is on view at Blanc Gallery in Bronzeville through May 27. She reports, “A beautiful, stylish, and lively crowd attended . . . the gallery has a cozy outdoor space that could accommodate a large number of guests. […]
Posted inCity Life
Style comes back with a vengeance at EXPO
Whoever says people don’t have much style in Chicago has no idea what they’re talking about. I’ve been photographing street style here for over ten years and I know better. When Chicagoans decide to bring it, they bring it with gusto, authenticity, and a very midwestern ease. That’s the kind of style that could be […]
Posted inCity Life
#SadBoyEnergy (The Prelude)
A collection of photos celebrates Black Men’s vulnerability.
Posted inArts & Culture
Archiving the city’s past
Cities change. As Chicago is a city and most certainly not exempt from this immutable law, I can tell you that Chicago will change in some fashion by the time you finish reading this piece. By the time you finish this sentence a family might have packed up their belongings in Chatham to relocate to […]
Posted inCity Life
When the hog butchers left
For just over 100 years, there was the smell. Writer Upton Sinclair called it “an elemental odor, raw and crude,” in The Jungle, his 1906 novel revealing the conditions of Chicago’s Union Stock Yards. “It was rich, almost rancid, sensual, and strong,” he wrote. “There were some who drank it in as if it were […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Two priests, a rabbi, and the Sex Pig
“Nice work, but you’re not ready,” Bob McCamant declared, after flipping through the portfolio of 16-by-20-inch black-and-white prints I had spent many darkroom hours creating. We sat in his office at Reader headquarters on Illinois Street, in 1986, the year I graduated from Columbia College. McCamant was one of the group of four who’d founded […]
Posted inArts & Culture
When a statue is more than a statue
Artist Kelly Kristin Jones examines contested monuments and white supremacy with her art
Posted inArts & Culture
Vivan Maier makes the everyday extraordinary
An exhibit at the Chicago History Museum offers a new perspective on the enigmatic photographer’s work.
Posted inMusic
Ayanna Woods raises funds to capture ten years of songwriting in the studio
Ayanna Woods raises funds to capture ten years of songwriting in the studio, Fulton Street Collective hosts an exhibit of photos by four jazz musicians, and more.