The Entrance by Chipka
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Description
Perhaps every city has a street named after itself. I often find myself wondering what it's like to live ON Chicago Avenue, IN Chicago. It's one of those passing wonders that never amounts to much.
I have memories of this street and this particular subway station. When I originally lived on the south side, it was my portal of escape from the mind-numbing, soul-crushing boredom that is life on the far south side. Now, it is...well...a portal of escape from the mind-numbing, soul-crushing boredom that is life on the far south side of this city. I go there, often, to shop at Borders, or at least to browse, to take high-sneak factor shots of random pedestrians...that kind of thing.
When I last visited the Borders Books, a bare spitting distance from this particular subway stop, I found myself thinking of Prague. In so many ways, Prague is a demure, older woman full of secrets and occasionally unspeakable desires. She is elegant and at times, wily beyond compare. Chicago, on the other hand, is so young a girl...a bit like a brazen street floozie with lipstick on her teeth. Ah, but Chicago has her charms, if only she remembered where she put them!
I'm sure I'll see Prague again, I'm sure I'll call Moscow home. (Funny, I see Prague and Chicago as feminine cities. Moscow is definitely masculine. He's a brazen, sometimes bullying city...but that's a rambling rumination for another post.) Suffice it to say, this is one of the small things in Chicago that I've come to love: a single subway stop that promises a respite from what passes for life at the southern extremity of this city.
As always, thank you for viewing and reading and commenting, and hopefully you're all on the verge of a great weekend.
Comments (14)
tamburro
Amazing capture my friend!!!!!
MrsRatbag
This is fantastic, Chip; love the feel of this shot!
beachzz
A great city scene; you do these SO well. It's exactly what I want to see when I'm there, walking these streets, seeing the gritty, real side of this place.
bimm3d
great photo!!!
romanceworks
A most interesting structure and picture. CC
auntietk
This is too cool. I've never been in a subway before. I love all the angles and the light and the empty feel of the thing. Yowser!
Xantipa
Superb..excellent...
durleybeachbum
I'm not keen on subways, although you've made your photo almost romantic, like those Art Nouveau Paris metro entrances! What struck me most is that you and I (and a myriad of others world wide) visit Borders...a strange whisker of connection between us so far apart!
KatesFriend
I love your description of Chicago, I wonder if Mr. Obama would agree with your analysis. I suppose, following this thread, that Toronto would be the neat, well organized and rather anal girl put together rather eclectically (some might say with hand-me-downs) who sat beside you in high school chemistry class. She gives off no sent of anything even remotely sexual but on some days smells a little mediciney
elfin14doaks
I've never rode the subway, but I remember my mom taking about riding it. Nice photo.
CoreyBlack
I like this a lot. It's amazing to get somebody elses take on something you've seen so many times it doesn't even have any meaning any more. In this photo, I actually get to look at the thing as an object, and it amazes me how many things I hadn't noticed before. For instance: I never noticed that the top part curves out like a weird sort of Art Nuveau clam shell. I also like the way the whole thing kind of reminds me of a big, dark mouth, ready to consume you as you walk into it...almost as if you're walking into the belly of the beast, whale, or whatever, and in reality, it's simply the entry to a subway. Amazing, the things your brain and imagination do when you take something out of its ordinary, utilitarian context and actually have a look at it as a form of functional art. Great capture and a great notice.
NefariousDrO
I always think of Whitman's poem about Chicago. I wonder how much it might have influenced my view of the city. I agree, it's got that youthful brashness that has a charm of its own, but does lack the subtle elegance that age and experience can add. The patterns of the ironwork in this are really interesting, it reminds me of the "futurist" artwork of the 1920's and 1930's. (i.e. the silent movie masterpiece "Metropolis")
nikolais
OMG, Never read such an exciting comparison of the three cities...the photo also works!
myrrhluz
"Down to the bottom, Hello Is there anybody else here? (Life Line. by Harry Nilsson) As I looked at your image, that song came into my head. Like Corey, I was struck by the threatening air the interior has. Images of people under another's control walking mindlessly into the dark interior came to me. Maybe I've been watching too much Dr Who. What first brought me here, though was the lovely patterns. Perhaps because it is your image, the patterns made me think of wood lice. I'm curious about the Subway Red Line Sign. on the left is a pretty little building, then you follow the line, passing the name, you continue on and ...what are those two things on the right? Wonderful shadows and reflections! Love this image! Great narrative too! Borders is like chocolate, though it's bad for the pocketbook rather than the waistline.