Chicago

[This blog post contains video that won't work from e-mail.  Go to the website here:

stevescameraview.blogspot.com to see my full post.]

Last month I was in Chicago for a meeting and fundraiser on behalf of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law, an amazing legal advocacy group that trains legal aid lawyers and helps lead legal advocacy for poor people on a national basis.  The fundraiser featured New York performer Sarah Jones, whose performance was similar to the wonderful TED talk below. (On the website, click on the little arrow at bottom left of the image to see the video.)

I am something of a homebody; for all my enjoyment of our travels, I am always happy to get home.  So it was only because of the happenstance of flight schedules that I ended up with an afternoon to wander around Chicago.  I am now a convert.  Chicago is wonderful.  After my meetings, I headed towards Millennium Park; on the way I passed these drummers on the street.  (Again, on the website click on the little arrow at bottom left of the image to see the video.)

It was a Saturday afternoon; the park was a great place for people-watching.

At a huge stainless steel reflective sculpture known locally as "The Bean," a group of young people from a Quinceañera (15-year-old's) birthday celebration posed for their own photographer.  

The sculpture is officially called "Cloud Gate," an appropriate name given the blanket of cloud swallowing the tops of the buildings.  

From the park I went to the Chicago Art Institute.  When I tell people about my wonderful visit there, I am bombarded with "What ??? You've never been there ???"  In an effort to spread this enthusiasm (and my appreciation that the Art Institute allows non-flash photography) I will share my four favorite pictures from my visit.  First, I saw and was drawn deeply into this brooding 1906 painting by Norwegian painter Harald Sohlberg, titled "Fisherman's Cottage."

I felt you could almost walk into this 1877 painting by French painter Gustave Caillebotte, titled "Paris Street, Rainy Day."

Vincent van Gogh's 1889 painting, "The Bedroom," feels to me like what a photograph looks like from inside the photographer's mind, accentuating those aspects to which the artist is most paying attention.

As I write, I realize how drawn I am to large canvasses.  In Edward Hopper's 1942 painting "Nighthawks," the play of light and shadow evoked a Humphrey Bogart movie; I thought the characters might at any moment start to speak.

On my way to take the train back to O'Hare Airport, I walked by the famous Palmer House Hotel, with its ornate Art Deco doors.

It was a wonderful afternoon.  Chicago, I'll be back !