Desolation by Chipka
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Description
I’m familiar with fog. I’ve seen it on countless occasions. I saw it in Prague, on my birthday: I watched as it transformed the city into something of it’s post-card twin. I saw it in Český Krumlov. It was a daily occurrence there, a thing so regular you could set your watch to it. Fog—in the Czech Republic—is a moody and hypnotic thing.
In Chicago, fog was always something else—always less than impressive. As a child, I’d see clumps of it in parks or vast, open spaces as only you can get near the peripheries of the Windy City. I’d see thin, broken clots of it downtown or in the more densely-populated areas. It was never an impressive thing, never distinguishable from the exhaust of automotive exuberance. It would linger in forest preserves, marking accidental compost heaps.
Two weeks ago, things changed: Chicago fog became something else. It grew up. It turned thick and treacherous, and stranger than any of that moody stuff you’d find in the Czech Republic. It rolled in at night, and so it carried an odd, hepatic orange glow tinged here and there with headlights, flashing neon, and the color-shifting glow of traffic signals.
Two weeks ago, Chicago vanished for a short time and I imagined that the city was redesigning itself, shifting subtly here and there: changing its face. This was not the case. Chicago remains as it was, but on that night two weeks ago, the fog implied so much, while obscuring everything. As I walked home from the end of my public transport journey, I marveled at the spooky silence of my neighborhood. In late night hours things are always strangely quiet, but on that night, the fog seemed to delay what sounds reached my ears. It was thicker in my neighborhood than up north; this is not surprising as the South Side of Chicago habitually engenders heavier weather than the northern stretches of the city. The fog had become a tactile thing here. It clung to clothing, moistening the material of my coat and the fabric of my jeans. It was an impenetrable, noiseless mass, colored in the strange orange of pressurized sodium vapor excited by currents of electricity. It lingered. And by day, even as the sun struggled to burn it away, it remained. The day eventually cleared, though clouds colored the sky…
…and two days later, it returned.
***
This is one of the few pictures I have in the area surrounding my current place of residence. There really isn't much to see here, but when that absence of reality is cloaked in fog, things tend to look better.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you're all having a great week. I hope to catch up on viewing and commenting as the weekend arrives.
Comments (34)
mistressotdark
too cool nice shot
alessimarco
Really wonderful capture of fog and many of its intricacies. Cloaking is one, distorting light is another...both are seen here. And at night it adds a surreal atmosphere, also seen here! You are right, this is grown up fog! Nice work!
MrsRatbag
Wonderful fog capture; there's a warmth to the mist surrounding the streetlamps, and an eerie sense of isolation. I like this very much!
artgum
Very nice capture- outstanding description.
MagikUnicorn
Cool fog vision here well done great shot
Amethystwolf
Beautiful image!
EBSPhotographic
Very cool! You saw my work from the other gallery so I'm sure it's no surprise that I really like this one. A nice stark image, shot at night; with fog no less! Can't beat it in my book.
zulaan
Wow ! Impressive atmosphere !
myrrhluz
This is indeed very mature! It has a presence that is solid and ponderous, like I would imagine Thomas Cromwell's entrance into a room at the height of his power. Regular activity stops and things become quiet. I've seen thick fog, but not in a city. I've never seen this golden glow. Wonderful capture of the lights! They seem like balls of energy, perhaps engineering that change of the city you wrote about. That's a fascinating idea, to have a fog descend and on it rising to find a changed world. How people would huddle together inside their homes, and venture out in wary trepidation, if that were the case. Looking around for familiar landmarks and hoping they were there, or perhaps hoping they were not. Excellent image and narrative!
durleybeachbum
MARVELLOUS writing and superb pic!
mermaid
To me this fog has exactlya the felling you described, something strange hovering in the city seamingly creating a new world with who knows what may come out of it... A superbe and moody shot with oh so well chosen words to go with!
Eresther
Excellent shot!
alwaysonmymind
A train blows it's horn in the distance. A single, forlorn, shadow slithers along facades, fences and across time-forgotten awnings. Eyes, turned inwards as much as out, stretch, and dart the space/time continuum, greeted only with vacancy in return. The alignment is off tonight. No body will come. Fade and cut.
marybelgium
wonderful night shot !
yons
One great moody shot.
SIGMAWORLD
Excellent capture!
Meisiekind
Oh yes - this is something in Chicago that I know very well! I have flown into Chicago O'Hare airport 3 times and spend 4 days in the city and haven't seen the skyline once... That is my experience of Chicago fog! Thick pea soup that clings to everything! Most amazing moody image Chip! I adore it! :)
beachzz
I know about fog, but rarely does it get like this. Ours simply keeps things gray and colorless, while yours turns the street into a scene from movie that would keep me awake for days afterwards. Great shot, and your description brings it alive!!
helanker
Awesome! The story around this shot and the shot it self. Yes such fog deaden the noice and makes one feel alone. Excellent, Chip.
watapki66
Beautifully done!
kgb224
Outstanding capture and story my friend.
KatesFriend
Perhaps this is the ghost of Old Chicago. The city that stood there before 1871.
flavia49
Fabulous work!!! Flavia & Sandra Comments are both from Flavia49 and Sandra46. That's because we have just one free connection in the hotel!!!!! We are enjoing ourselves very much!!
bmac62
You've inspired me. The "best fog" I've ever seen creeps out of the rivers and bogs of Bavaria. I've seen thin fog in most of the USA and some real pea soup type that I drove through at 65mph following some nut who was ahead of me at least 1/4 of a mile on the New Jersey Turnpike when I was young enough to tempt fate. All I did was follow two glowing tailights for 50 miles or so...my idea was if he became toast, I could stop in time. Anyway your description of fog above is right to the "T"...meaning, great. Sorry, I've missed so many of your postings. I think I am catching up with life a little again:-)))
romanceworks
A gorgeous very atmospheric photo. I like the detail of the naked trees contrasted with the muted feeling. We get fog in the mountains like I have never seen before - it arrives in massive clouds, enveloping everything. Inside it you are blinded by the white. And then it slowly moves away and all is clear again. On the first night my husband and I arrived here, we got into our car to go somewhere and a sudden fog cloud appeared and swallowed our vehicle. It was a Stephen King moment, and we just sat inside of it, unable to see, or move. And then as if by magic it moved on. CC
auntietk
Fog is such an amazing thing, isn't it? It turns the familiar into something alien, and muffles sound into nothingness. This is wonderful!
faroutsider
The cloying fog that surrounds and envelopes - outstanding photo and narrative that just won't let go...
nikolais
atmospheric and moody
blondeblurr
WOW...this is a break-away from your usual photography, of huge buildings - no fog! that said, it's onto smaller ones now but...with a twist in your own style and I just love this phenomena, called fog! it conjures up images and scenes from the movie: 'The Third Man' with Orson Welles...of secret trickery, mystery and scheming plots. Very intriguing for me, can't say that I have experienced fog to any degree like you, maybe only once in my life. fine composition, BB
FunkyShaman
I've always had a special fondness for outdoor nighttime foglit scenes, and this one definitely captures it beautifully. Awesmoe job, and always love reading your write-ups about them!