Last summer, I traveled to Chicago to photograph a wedding and to do a little sightseeing with my husband Paul. I travel to Chicago often for both work and vacation, but this was only the second time Paul had visited the city. I usually stay in the downtown Loop, but this time we decided to stay in Gold Coast. We really liked the area, with plenty of amazing restaurants and Lincoln Park within close walking distance. We rented bikes and took the Lakefront Trail into downtown, where I showed Paul all of my favorite Chicago spots.
One of my goals was to photograph the canal at night on film, but unfortunately, I had forgotten my tripod at the hotel. Then, it started raining. Undeterred, I set my camera on a cement pillar facing the canal and Paul covered it from the rain with a pizza box containing our leftover dinner. Since I was shooting film, I did not know how the photos would turn out. Fortunately, when the scans came back, I was SUPER impressed with the sharpness and detail of those night shots. Yay for medium format film!
The morning before we left, Paul and I visited the University of Chicago campus. With old-world, ivy-covered buildings and European arches, the campus looks like something straight out of a fairy tale. Film has an almost painting-like quality to it, so the medium was perfect for the location. In addition to the medium format Kodak Portra that I normally shoot, I also shot a roll of 35mm Cinestill 800. The red-halation light glow of the film stock gave the photos an extra level of other-worldliness.
Our trip was brief, but we did a lot of walking, eating, and sightseeing in a short amount of time. Showing Paul one of my favorite cities was fun, and reinforced that no matter how many times I visit, there will always be new things to see and experience. Thanks, Chi-town, until we meet again!
Pentax 645n and Nikon N90 | Kodak Portra 400 and Cinestill 800 | Indie Film Lab
