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ChicagoCity of Shadow and Light

Jonathan Lurie

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ChicagoCity of Shadow and Light

Jonathan Lurie

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ChicagoCity of Shadow and Light

In 1949, Look magazine sent 21 year-old photo journalist, Stanley Kubrick to photograph Chicago for a story called, “Chicago: City of Contrasts.” The magazine published a series of rich, black and white images depicting vivid contrasts of the city. Kubrick contrasts the elegance of dinner at the Pump Room and the glamor of State Street with harsh scenes of life in tenements and the social realism of Carl Sandberg’s Chicago.

Chicago is still a city of contrast. The sharp borders that define our neighborhoods make Chicago the most segregated city in America (The Center for Governmental Studies at Northern Illinois University , 2008).

Chicago is not warp and weft, but north side and south side, Bronzeville and gold coast and, White Sox and Cubs. Even our nickname, the” windy city” has three contradictory theories of origin.

When the sun shines in Chicago, the buildings refract, filter and mask the light creating a seemingly unlimited number of temporary contrasting shapes and patterns. This series is my attempt to use the shadows and light to create a visual experience that transforms the formal constructs.

In many of the images, I employed unknowing pedestrians to provide both the interac-tion of human energy and scale. The indifference and lack of awareness of the people in the images gave me a personal and welcome reminder that the most interesting visual experiences appear only when one takes the time to look.

6Walking Amongst the Shadows

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8 Sheraton in Half Shadow

9Angular Hotel

10 Runner

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