Home is Right Where You Are

Home is where the heart is. Home is where you make it. Home is wherever I am with you. Home is family to some, friends to others; a sense of nostalgia. Some are still searching for home while others do not know what home is. For me home is a feeling. It’s not a specific street, a set of random numbers placed on my mailbox, but more of laughter, smiles; a sense of being on top of the world. It’s not one specific place but a plethora of places, although I feel at home in Chicago quite often. It’s that feeling you get while you are standing at that place. The sense of excitement, enjoyment, calmness. It’s as if nothing else in the world matters except for this moment. If you are smiling right now, laughing, curious, or in love. If you are happy, you are home. Home is right where you are.

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See More Chicago Photography:  The Way We See | Up Up & Away | Ripple Effect

    

The Way We Choose to See Things

Chicago Architecture Photography

The way we choose to see things makes all the difference. It gives you a different perspective. Sometimes I walk around and feel like I’m living in this little bubble, constantly going through the motions and stuck in a this world of “comfortability” sort to speak. Not to say that being comfortable is wrong/ bad by any means, but I tend to need a change in my routine every now and then in order to keep being excited about what I do. And this is not only speaking in terms of photography. Every time I travel to Chicago, I usually take the Metra Railway to Chicago Union Station. I get off and weave through the crowd of people with their own agenda at hand, and as I exit, I am always welcomed by the Sears (Willis) Tower. There’s always a line out the door waiting for their chance to visit the Skydeck, along with couples taking selfies with it in the background. I have seen it many times, and have photographed it too many times to count. I usually just pass by it now, as it has become yet another billboard on my route through the city. But instead of passing by it a hundred times and just brushing this architecture marvel off my shoulders, what if instead, I looked at it 100 different ways. Now that’s exciting.

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See More Chicago Photography:  Chicago Engagement | Up Up & Away | Ripple Effect

    

Exploring Iceland: The West

In August I went on a trip that I never thought that I would have ever gone on. Iceland. I traveled around the ring road for 8 days in a camper car. It was honestly the most amazing experience in my life and none of the pictures that I took truly do justice to the beauty of Iceland. I look back, reminiscing on each picture, while writing this post and I think “Maybe it’s sad that this is now a memory”. But hey, maybe it’s not. It’s like they say, we take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone. I remember each and every moment it still sends chills down my spine. I can’t wait to go back. On another the other hand I think I may have over done it with pictures while visiting Iceland. I went through 3 memory cards, 3 batteries in about 8 days so I’m happy to share some of my Iceland photography from an unbelievable trip. Here’s some of my photography from road tripping around the Golden Circle, Reykjavik, & West Iceland.

See More of my Iceland Photography Here: Iceland Road Trip Photography >

Reflections in the Sky

The cars are stopped, waiting as a sea of people cross the street as if it’s just a part of their daily routine. I’m standing above them, blinded for a second by the reflections of Chicago off a building the Chicago reflects. Feeling grateful to be able to stand above the city that I call home. Happy Wednesday!

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See More Chicago Skydeck Photography: Up Up & Away | Daydreaming | Living in the Sky

    

Ripple Effect

I really enjoy framing buildings in a way to remove their context and focus on the part that makes up the whole. Emphasizing the the rippling balconies that create the unique facade of this building. No matter how many times I pass by the Aqua building it always makes me look up.

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See More Abstract Photography: Living Above | Out of Focus | Behind the Streetlamp

    

Living Above

When thinking about this picture I was quickly reminded of a book I read some time ago called Delirious New York by an architect named Rem Koolhaas. It reminded me about vertical living. How instead of sprawling north, south, east or west, we instead went up. I recall reading  about how the invention of the elevator allowed hundreds of people live and work on the same plot of land but have completely different lives. How every floor can open up to a different world and you never know until the doors open and you step out. I know I am rambling about what may seem as nonsense, but that is what I love so much about photography. A picture of a Chicago high rise reminds me of a book I read in college, it reminds me of how something as simple as an elevator has changed and molded the urban city as we know it, but more importantly it reminds me of the different worlds people live in. Right now, in this moment, people are going to work, reading a book, eating lunch, walking in the park, flying in a plane or just writing a blog. It just makes me think.

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See More Chicago Photography: Up Up & Away | Late Night Walks | Chasing the Sunrise

    

Behind the Streetlamp

Often over looked but always essential. The Chicago streetlamp shines down as the sun goes down. Offering a sort of protection to those who wander underneath it. Breaking through the darkness as it provides a sort of path through the bustling streets of Chicago. Just follow the light.

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Blue View

I never get tired of that blue view… The best part about abstract photography is that there are no rules. I love being able to transform ordinary scenes that I walk by everyday and turn them into an unordinary scenes. Removing the context behind an image to the point that you lose what it is, keeps me knowing that things aren’t always how they appear. Sometimes you just have to look at it in a different perspective.

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Looking Up #8

Even to this day I still walk the streets like a tourist, a nomad traveling through the streets of Chicago, admiring the beautiful architecture that surrounds like it was just created that day. And even as I walking through buildings like the Chicago Cultural Center, there’s always a moment that surprises me. a moment that is new. This is Looking Up at the Chicago Cultural Center.

For all of you Chicagoans out there! If you like my blog or enjoy photography or glasses join me TOMORROW, November 20th at SPEX in Lincoln Square, where I’ll be showcasing some new photography! It’s at 5-8pm with a OGI / SERAPHIN Eyewear TRUNK SHOW. For more information click here

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Daydreaming.

Chicago Daydreaming

Maybe it’s just who I am. I always find my self distracted. Distracted from the sounds of conversations that are seemingly directed towards me or from a person standing by side. It’s not the worst problem to have but I do feel bad that I’m not always a hundred percent there. Some may feel resentment that I can not express how I feel into words but it’s not by choice that I remain silent. I’m often daydreaming. Daydreaming in a photograph is how I like to think about it. I have found that I am more vocal in a photograph than I am with my voice and although I may be silent does not mean I’m not talking. This is one of those days where I’m daydreaming. Daydreaming while rising upon the Chicago Architecture as the sun begins to set.

In other news… Next Thursday, November 20th, I will be showcasing some of my photography at Spex’s Art+Vision in Lincoln Park, Chicago. If your from Chicago and like my blog I hope you will be able to stop by! Here’s a link for more information: Chicago Spex Art+Vision

 

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