Jack Siegel is a Chicago-based photographer who traverses the streets of Chicago with camera in hand. Jack's practice includes architectural photography and urban landscapes.

Archive

All in Chicago

Jun 10

Jun 10 Trumpers

Chicago, Demonstrations, Street

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Today, I saw what I perceive to be my first pro-Trump rally in Chicago. Ostensibly the rally was to protest the possibility that Sharia law would be instituted in the United States, but at the end of the day, at least some of those present were Donald Trump supporters who were making a symbolic stand in front of the bronze statue of an 11-foot high George Washington on the northwest corner of Wacker and Wabash. Not surprisingly, a group of counter-protesters was in place at the northeast corner, which often serves as the locus for Trump protests in Chicago.

Chicago Blues Festival

Jun 9

Jun 9 Chicago Blues Festival

Chicago, Festivals, Musicians

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Many people expressed a lot of concern when the City decided to move the 2017 Chicago Bluesfest to Millennium Park rather than continuing to use the longstanding location at Petrillo Music Shell and the side stages in Grant Park. People did not want to substitute concrete for grass. Overall, I think the City did a great job in prepping Millennium Park for the onslaught of blues enthusiasts and casual passersby who heard the music wafting from the four stages as they enjoyed the Bean and the Crown Fountain.

Blues in the Schools

Jun 9

Jun 9 Blues in the Schools

Chicago, Festivals, Musicians, Performance

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Each year, a group of elementary school students shows attendees of the Chicago Blues Festival what they have learned. Whether or not the next Muddy Waters, Lonnie Baker, or Guy Clark Jr. emerges from the program won't be known for at least a decade or two. In the meantime, the kids are having a rollicking good time. If nothing else, I suspect we will see many of these kinds in the audience in future years.

Blues on State Street

Jun 8

Jun 8 Blues on State Street

Chicago, Musicians, Performance

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Marshall Field and Company exists now only as a sign that Macy's hasn't removed out of fear of alienating the Chicago market and its fond remembrances of the once venerable Field and Company. Much the same can be said of Maxwell Street Market, which has been moved to a new location and is a shadow of its former self. Yet, Brian Doroba (guitar)

Sam Lay Tribute

Jun 5

Jun 5 Sam Lay Tribute

Chicago, Festivals, Musicians, Performance

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I spent two hours earlier in the evening at the Chicago Cultural Center enjoying Sam Lay stories, listening to Chicago blues harpist Corky Siegel and Lay perform two numbers together, and watching director John Anderson's terrific new documentary Sam Lay in Bluesland. Those are the component parts of the evening, but so much more was going on.

Precursor to the Bluesfest

Jun 5

Jun 5 Precursor to the Bluesfest

Chicago, Festivals, Performance, Musicians

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Surprise, Surprise! At about noon, I was within a block of Daley Plaza (the location of the Picasso statue) when I heard the sweet sounds of some Chicago Blues reverberating off the buildings, sounding just like it did when Muddy Waters plugged his guitar into an amp.

Jun 5

Jun 5 Localized

Architecture, Chicago, Urban Landscapes

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Over the last several years, I have noticed an interesting phenomenon as I travel throughout the city: Skyscrapers create their own micro climates. Traveling south on Lake Shore Drive toward the John Hancock Center, I sometimes see fog drifting in that pretty much obscures the skyline, only to discover clear skies once I cross North Avenue heading south on LaSalle.

Jun 3

Jun 3 Covfefe

Chicago, Demonstrations, Urban Landscapes

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Covfefe made it into the demonstration lexicon at Chicago's March for Truth today. This was the poster of the day, even though the Photoshopping is less than desirable.

Hancock Center Garage

Jun 2

Jun 2 Hancock Center Garage

Architecture, Chicago, Urban Landscapes

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Everyone who visits Chicago inevitably sees the skyline, with the Willis Tower on the south end and the John Hancock Tower on the north end. The Trump Tower is in the middle, as is the Amoco Building (now the Aon Center) . What many don't see is the spiral drum immediately to the east of the Hancock Tower. It is part of the ramp that leads to the parking garage on the lower floors of the Hancock. It is made of concrete, and looks similar in shape to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, although on further reflection, there are big differences.

North Avenue Beach

May 29

May 29 North Avenue Beach

Chicago, Food, Street, Urban Landscapes

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Rain was in the forecast today, but on North Avenue Beach, it was nowhere to be found. Sunny, warm, but none of the July and August humidity was in the air, which probably kept beach attendance down a bit, but there were still plenty of people milling about. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Volleyball, touch football, castles in the sand, and the smell of a little reefer in the air.

Centennial Fountain

May 27

May 27 Centennial Fountain

Architecture, Chicago, Urban Landscapes

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If you are looking for somewhere over the rainbow in Chicago, walk along the Riverwalk toward the Lake Shore Drive Bridge. Centennial Fountain is located on the north side of the river. Dedicated in 1989, the fountain commemerates the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

Art Institute of Chicago

May 26

May 26 Art Institute of Chicago

Architecture, Chicago

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As you walked into the old section of the Art of Institute of Chicago, you pass a grand staircase. On the first landing is a bronze sculpture of a torso created by Roussillon-born sculpturer Aristide Maillol in 1906. It is entitled Enchanted Action. The white light in the staircase always tickles down to the toes, and yet the torso has no toes to tickle.

May 26

May 26 Nutella

Architecture, Chicago, Food, Windows

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Several years back, Nutella was the rage on college campuses. The little single serving packets were replacing salt, sugar, and butter packets in college cafeterias, with administrators being forced to keep a sharp eye on students loading pockets, purses, and backpacks with dozens of those packets filled with delicious chocolate hazelnut goo.

May 25

May 25 Gerhard Steidl

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Gerhard Steidl, the German master publisher of photography and art books, delivered the annual Hugh Edwards Lecture at the Art Institute of Chicago this evening. Toward the end of the lecture, Steidl said he is a technician, not an artist. Most devotees to the books that he publishes would strongly disagree.

May 19

May 19 V. J. Iyer

Chicago, Jazz, Musicians, Performance

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A capacity crowd at the University of Chicago's Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts heard Vijay Iyer, one of Eicher's artists, perform last night with a sextet. At the end of the concert, one enthusiastic listener told trumpeter Graham Hayes that he heard Sketches of Spain in some parts of the music.

May 15

May 15 The New Wing

Chicago, Architecture

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Architect Renzo Piano's Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago has an expansive hallway that leads from Monroe on the wing's north side to the older sections of the museum on the south. It is a grand space, with white walls and skylights, providing beautiful natural lighting. People always look so elegant in this space, particularly when seated on the benches that line the walkway.

May 15

May 15 Robert Frank

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The Art Institute of Chicago just opened an exhibit in the photography gallery in the Modern Wing featuring the work of Robert Frank, who many consider to be the father of street photography, although I think The Americans is a far more cohesive a body of work that goes well beyond the often ad hoc nature of what is typically characterized as street photography. Throughout the exhibit, there are a number of references to Frank's desire for a quick, dirty, an ephemeral display of his work.

Elks National Memorial

May 12

May 12 Elks National Memorial

Architecture, Chicago, Urban Landscapes

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The Elks National Memorial located just to the west of the north end of Lincoln Park is a reminder of the sacrifice of the many Americans who fought and died in World War I. Planning for the memorial began two years after the war ended in 1918. The organization selected New York architect Egerton Swarthout's design.

May 10

May 10 Normalized

Demonstrations, Chicago

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After spending the better part of five hours last night watching non-stop cable coverage of the Trump-Comey story, I expected hundreds if not thousands of people to attend a demonstration today at the intersection of Wabash and Wacker immediately across the Chicago River from the Trump Tower--that being the unofficial site for anti-Trump demonstrations.

Apr 22

Apr 22 Science

Chicago, Demonstrations, Street

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Today some 40,000 Chicagoans participated in the March for Science, a nonpartisan demonstration that had heavy partisan overtones. There certainly weren't Trumpians in evidence. It is hard not to be anti-Trump if you are scientist: Trump wants to cut funding for science; Trump wants to politicize scientific research in an effort to support his anti-science policies (anti-vax, anti-climate, anti-research); and Trump wants to rely on alternative facts.