Sunset at Lincoln Park

Richard Misrach is one of my favorite photographers.  He undertook a three-year project in which he photographed the Golden Gate Bridge from the same vantage point on his front porch, located somewhere in the vicinity of Berkley.  Misrach was demonstrating that photography is often more about the light and the weather conditions than the specific subject matter.

I don't know whether this is my favorite view of the Chicago Skyline, but it is an easy bus ride from my home.  As I was reading about Niccolò Machiavelli this afternoon for my Great Books class at the University of Chicago, I kept an eye on the sky.  At 3:30 it was pretty bleak.  At 4:00 the clouds were starting to get some definition.  At 5:00, the sun was low in the sky, which provided both needed light and that dark purplish blue in the clouds.  I packed a bag, and headed out.  This photograph was made relatively early in the  sequence.  As the sun went down, the temperature dropped, which meant that the cloud cover started to blanket the sky, blocking out the sun.  By 6:30, it was dusk, but the Chicago Skyline was back to blah.

And there you have it.  By the way, I own the Misrach book.  It is superb.