©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
T Bone Burnett won his first Oscar last night, for Best Original Song from”Crazy Heart”. Walking onstage, the gentlemanly Burnett was wearing his familiar sunglasses and signature dark suit. His dark outfit made for an interesting image in the alley of the Vic Theater in Chicago when I was assigned to take his portrait on one of his visits. I was grateful for the light in the alley that day. It was one of those moments when the sun was out, and the light was skimming the surface of the bricks. You hope your subject is available before the light changes, or clouds move in. The lighting seemed appropriate. At the time, he was coming out with his first album in 14 years, so I offered the theme of “emerging from shadows” back at the office. Even with a portrait, you try to tell a story.
©2010 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
A door from the patrol car driven by Chicago Police Officer Alan Haymaker rests on the side of Lake Shore Drive after his vehicle slammed into the side of a tree. Haymaker did not survive the crash, which occurred while he was enroute to a burglary. The exact cause of the crash is being investigated, but icy weather contributed to it. The Tribune had a full story about him on its breaking news website. After photographing the accident, I accompanied the reporter who interviewed the officer’s pastor at his northwest side church. The picture of Haymaker that emerged from that interview and others was both humbling and inspiring – of someone who served the needs of those around him, as an officer, friend, neighbor, and father – at sometimes great risk, but always as a reflection of his Christian faith. I had just been talking with my wife about how much our society is owed by people who live and serve others in quiet, unassuming ways. This morning I heard one such description and it gave me pause. That seemed to be Haymaker’s mission and heart.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
I guess the coffee cup on the billboard is of cold comfort for these commuters. Heh.
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
The morning scene at a bus stop in Little Village. On my way to the Cook County criminal courts building, I’ve seen this colorful wall but haven’t had the time to stop for photographs. This particular morning I had some time, and the sky was clear. It’s interesting that everything turned red that morning. The man’s hooded sweatshirt. Even Tiger Woods showed up in red. I wonder if there’s some advertising lesson here…
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
Passing by the homeless, I don’t typically stop to take a picture. I don’t know if it’s an aversion to objectifying a person, or if it’s simply not my business unless the Trib is doing a story. But I don’t want to hide the homeless either. In this case, I stopped to photograph the scene – maybe because of the state of the economy and its rampant foreclosures, or maybe because the stairs resembled an altar to me. I was plumbing the depths of the Lower Wacker and Lower Michigan network of streets for a weather picture, and actually ran into my supervisor who was commuting to work at that moment. It is a peculiar place that gives many homeless at least a dry place to sleep, and commuters a chance to avoid rain for a stretch of pavement. It’s also a place that offers one pause to consider the circumstances and results of birth, life and choice. As my mom once said to me as a child when I made a careless remark about a homeless person, “There but by the grace of God go you…”
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
I’m on antibiotics and cough syrup shooting rainy day photos. I’m feeling just Grand…:-)
©2009 Chicago Tribune/Alex Garcia
The interplay of light, architecture, and people in the Loop has always been a fascination for me, even as a child growing up in the ‘burbs. At one point some years ago I was fortunate enough to have a series of pictures of the Loop in the Tribune accompany poetry by Chicago poet Stuart Dybek. With morning light part of my shift, I hope to continue my photographic exploring of the compositional geometries and lightplay of our city’s downtown area. Wow, that was a mouthful…
©2009 Chicago Tribune
Fridays are some of the best days for photographing street life in the city. People are out, relaxed, looking toward the weekend and in this case, “wearing torso”…. I was stopped at a light on Madison on the west side on a recent Friday when I saw this man out my rear passenger window. I’ve often thought of assembling a collection of photos taken out my car window between assignments, since I often don’t have time to stop in places that call out for pictures. It’s interesting that in that brief traffic moment, while he was in a conversation and I was a casual observer, he had a moment of quiet reflection. You don’t expect to see that on a busy, noisy street. There was also something very photographable about the light, body gesture, accessories and ennui that had the feel of a billboard ad for jeans – a fashion that years from now will go out of style, but is ubiquitous for the moment…
