Ancient History by CoreyBlack
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Description
With this shot, I'm kicking off an occasional series of archival material, where I'll delve into the beginnings of my fascination with photographing my adopted home town of Chicago.
The Orbit Room was located on the 3700 block of North Broadway in Lakeview (then called New Town) and its Sputnik-era space age/futuristic signage lent a lot of visual pizazz to the place, even if it was somewhat at odds with the early 20th century terracotta facade. I know very little of this place's history, prior to the mid 1980s, but then--as now--Lakeview/New Town was the epicenter of Chicago's GLBT community. When this picture was made on August 22, 1987, it was a somewhat funky gay bar. All of New Town was seedy in those days and just dangerous enough to be interesting. It has since been gentrified to the point where it is now about as fascinating as the latest Land's End catalog, and as sterile as the clean room of a microchip factory. The Orbit Room, along with half of the very long city block it sat on, between Waveland Avenue and Grace Street, was demolished in 1990 and replaced by a strip mall. The street sign, parking meter, and the light pole are still in the exact same spots, but the banged-up, 1976 Olds Cutlass has most probably gone to its eternal reward. A bit of trivia, the facade of the Orbit Room was used in the opening credit montage of the 1980s, Dennis Farina cop show Crime Story and the bar was the frequently-mentioned after-hours hang out for the detectives on the series.
This photo was made with a Nikromat SLR, using Kodak Plus-X black and white film.
Comments (5)
beachzz
There's an area near me just like this. It used to be 2 Street, was beyond funky, and had that same element of danger. They "improved" it, but beneath that shiny exterior still lies some ugly stuff. It doesn't go away at all. Great shot and wonderful narrative!!
MrsRatbag
I remember when there were a lot of places like this in Los Angeles...Love the B&W and high-key look of this shot!
durleybeachbum
Fascinating!! We have places in my town like this still.
anahata.c
terrific Corey, and your words enhance it greatly. I remember that area well, lived not far from there when it was called "Newtown," even worked there many years after. (I worked in record store that was one of the biggest disco markets in the city; coming from classical & jazz I was a litttttttle bit outnumbered, lol, but working & living there was amazing back then.) The shot, with its bleached whites & grays, is somehow perfect for our asphalt city, and yes, it's terrible that these spots are always replaced by malls or chains or whatever. You got the 'gable'—if that's the right word—with that typical chicago ornament atop (trompe l'oeil?), and the roof of an adjacent building angling off on top left...it's all so chicago. I didn't know the facade was used on that tv show, but it is perfect for it. Very nice shot, you put a lot into the description, and with all that white and the single lonely door, it really feels like a neighborhood spot, bleak & very urban on the outside, but where people gather warmly on the inside. Very sensitive upload, and thank you.
Chipka
I keep looking at this and I expect to see Lenny and Squiggy walk by. I love the stark monochrome of this. The white is so sharp and eye-grabbing, but it's not too overpowering. It gives the darker details a background on which to play, which is really interesting since most of the white is foreground. I wasn't hanging around this area when this picture was taken, but it seems so much like the Chicago that was, especially when I moved into that particular area long after the Orbit Room suffered a catastrophic orbital decay and went the way of all great buildings in non-downtown areas here. I do remember hanging out at a bar called Bedrock that wasn't too far from here. I think it was a wee bit south. I always went there with a gaggle of Columbia College girls who had a thing for one or more members of The Gloryhounds...did you ever hear them? Are they still around? And that also makes me expect to see a particular member of that group ambling through this photo, fully aware of the retro stylings of the Orbit Room and it's contrast to the electrocuted hedgehog haircut he always wore. Ah...this brings back memories and makes me realize just how cool hair looks when it resembles an electrocuted hedgehog. Great work. This is definitely a favorite.