Towers by Chipka
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North of Chinatown, the city changes. The garish reds, golds, and green shades of prosperity and luck give way to darker, more sullen tones.
It is said—in China—that ghosts cannot cross water on a crooked bridge, and thus—in China—there are countless bridges that take zig-zag paths across rivers. There are no folklore legends concerning railroad bridges, but I am sure that in some way ghosts are unable to cross.
There are ghosts north of Chinatown, and mysterious pilings like markers of forgotten tombs. Surely there are ghosts here. Though young, Chicago stands in possession of a violent and lurid past; it is not impossible to imagine that the half-ruined pilings amid fields of weed-growth and rubble are tomb markers: all that remain of grand burial places for the kings (and queens) that Chicago’s own history denies. In the reality of such ghosts, it may be necessary for them to cross a river. In the reality of shifted Chinese folklore, it may be necessary to prevent them from doing so. The land of the living is, after all, no place for the dead.
In a narrow strip of territory between Chinatown and Chicago’s gleaming South Loop district, dead industry rusts and rots on breezes left salty with corrosion. Trains thunder along serpentine tracks, boats—in dry-dock—await their return to the water. Cars speed through streets that become overpasses and bridges, then become streets again, lost between warehouses and hulking, hollow shells that were once…something else. Graffiti marks walls, marks city history apocryphal to any sanctioned book. The river (sometimes parallel to a street, sometimes perpendicular) bubbles and churns with exquisite indolence away from the lake. There may be no need for zig-zag bridges here, as it is likely that ghosts cannot cross a river flowing in the wrong direction.
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The northern fringes of Chicago’s south side have always fascinated me. To stand on 18th Street is to stand on a punctuation mark between sentences. There is an emptiness to the region—an emptiness that Chicago repeats in other fringe areas to the south, to the west, and even—of you travel far enough south—to the east, where city and lake meet in soggy, squishy indistinction. In these areas, industry ruled; families (now largely forgotten) made their fortunes and built grand mansions in which to live. But now, things are different. Industry is a Chinese thing (and perhaps they’ve built zig-zag bridges to keep American industrial ghosts away from the living.) Chicago itself gleams—at its core—with spires of metal and glass. Air traffic thunders over the city, while rail-lines corrode.
Change is not a bad thing; it is something I heartily embrace, but when I stand on 18th Street, looking south, to Chinatown, and north to the gleaming marvel of downtown, I wonder what bits ourselves we lose in a headlong rush into an ill-defined, inconstant future. I wonder what histories lay in the domain of rust and rubble, and what we might learn of ourselves…if only we could speak to the rats that make their homes in the ruins we’ve left behind.
I thought of this as I listened to music and played with postwork. This is the result. I hope you enjoy it.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, listening (if appropriate) and commenting on this and on past posts. Hopefully you're all having a great week.
Comments (27)
TwoPynts
Very post apocolyptic! Cool work Chipka!
NefariousDrO
That is a remarkable image. Your treatment of the photo is perfect for the mood, and the tone of your writing. That must be an incredible place, the strange towers still standing, the desolate piles of rubble, it's pretty eerie, a mood only enhanced by your wonderful postworking on this. The tilted camera also works exceptionally well for this one, too.
KatesFriend
Excellent ghostly atmosphere to this scene. Something remains but nowhere near what it was when the place was alive with people and commerce and able the materially effect the real world. Now the scene is just an echo of what it was. Ample evidence of a once proud civilization. Industry is a fickle thing. I think of the spice trade and all the wealth and wars it generated over the centuries. How could they have foreseen that the peppers and curries (the music is so fitting for that) they traded for their weight in gold could one day be plucked from a common grocers shelf for less than 10 minutes worth of a labourer's wages today? They too are ghosts now.
Xoterik
Very haunting and memorable capture. It definitely makes me ponder your words and ask the same thing.
jocko500
do look spooky here. wonderful shot
MrsRatbag
Post apocalyptic indeed...well done, Chip, and congrats on GOM!
Bothellite
This is an excellent piece. You've brought together so many elements, tied up and brief. Wonderful mood and current. The image is awesome.
danapommet
A war zone in Chicago??? I haven't been to Chicago since the 1991 NHL All Star game. Didn't get to see anything like this. Super post work my friend. Dana
beachzz
The ruins of the city---your work here captures that end of the world, catastrophic look. I hope I never really see it.
Crabbycabby
Fantastic narrative. Great work.
minos_6
Your words and capture are perfectly synchronised here. The area looks lost, forgotten. Your post work had a brilliant effect on the vegetation, which reminds me of mold growing across the lower portions of the image, and fits very nicely with your musings. And that sky, full of menace (or promise? I'm not sure). I like this post very much! Dzanetos
prutzworks
cool grunge look
whaleman
You sure you didn't take a side trip to Mars in its wintertime? Very otherworldly postwork! PS — Congratulations on your selection as GOTM!
kgb224
Outstanding work my friend. Congratulations for being selected as the Photographer of the Month July 2010.
durleybeachbum
TERRIFIC! And hugely enjoyable musings, as always! So glad you have achieved recognition for your work, Chip!
Meisiekind
There is a solemn and dark mood to this image which I really like! It is so desolate and sparce!!! Well done Chip! Congrats on GOM again!!!!! :))
MrsLubner
marvelous postwork. It really changed the entire "language" of this shot.
jmb007
magnifique travail!!
sandra46
first of all CONGRATULAIONS for the gallery of the month! then , i believe this is one of the best you've made recently! a stellar shot and postwork, with a terrific mood that makes my lungs seize, and the mind grip!
myrrhluz
Many congratulations on GOM! A most excellent choice! Haunting image and music. Your postwork so well brings to mind the lost, forgotten ghosts that lie just below our everyday world. The ages past that have decayed and been buried, rust eating through metal, and buildings crumbling. Your words bring to life the dead, the undercurrent of conflict between what was and what is. Often before your images of this railroad bridge has made my mind think of the optimistic and energetic period of the the mid to lat 1800's. Even in their old age, the towers had a robust stalwart stance that defied even time. Here they brood, looking out over a wasteland and being a part of it. Wonderful image and fascinating narrative!
Sepiasiren
You did an amazing thing--you've made appreciative of architectural and cityscape photography whereas I was never a big fan of the medium before--I suppose it is your eye that captures the mood of a place and not just the cool and aloof structure--once again well done!
auntietk
I love whatever you did to this, postwork wise. It's got the look and feel of a watercolor on slightly porus handmade paper. I think you're right about ghosts and the Chicago river. There couldn't possibly be a ghost who could cross water flowing the wrong way. I think any ghost worth its salt would high-tail it back to where it came from! Having spent a bunch of time lately in graveyards, I can tell you that those pilings are VERY much like the headstones in sections where there are a lot of Chinese people buried. The stones are mostly a reddish marble, they're similar in size, neatly lined up (more neatly than in other areas), and they give a feeling of advance planning, and a solid 4/4 beat. Excellent image and narrative!
Alex_Antonov
Excellent!
flavia49
fabulous image and render!! splendid text!! congratulation!!
bmac62
Being only a two time visitor to Chicago...once almost 50 years ago visiting a friend who had an apartment overlooking Meigs Field (1962) before Mayor Daily sent in the bulldozers (2003)..., and a second time to steal a glimpse of U-505 now inside (since 2004) and the top of the Sears, oops, Willis Tower (2009), I feel like there is so much that I haven't seen yet of your fascinating, ever changing city. Pause,...as an English major, I am really proud of this opening run-on sentence. It is the kind of sentence one might write illustrating to a freshman what not to do! But it makes my point...just in my the places I've visited...change, change, change. So, too the area you are speaking of and illustrating so well with this other-worldly bridge across the Chicago River. I got the same feeling you are expressing when I looked down on the area off to the south of the 99th floor of the Sears Tower...the word that came to mind was empty. The great rail yards of the early 1900s have given way to a few sleek tracks (relatively speaking). There are miles of concrete stretching off to the south that once must have had a purpose that today is no longer obvious. There are acres of weed strewn emptiness that at one time were home to countless railroad sidings that have been rendered obsolete by airplanes and monster trucks and the sprawling Federal highway system. The towers that you have shown here,...probably of a 100+ year old railroad bridge, that may still be standing because nobody wants to pay for removing them. All signs of change in our country (let alone Chicago) over the last 100 years. So, now lost in my own ramblings, let me simply say this would make a great pulp fiction book cover. All you need to do now is write more of the story behind the illustration. You describe this as photo-manipulation. I like what appears to be a light-filled, glass enclosed habitat of some sort on the highest levels of the nearest tower. Who could be living and operating from up there? What schemes may be being hatched up there as this is written? And when are the tycoons of southern Chicago going to landscape this vast wasteland? Change, change, change...:) A fine piece evoking (your word, isn't it?) all sorts of thoughts from this mind that at one time looked at the urban decay of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx east of Manhattan and thought the same things as you are thinking about the south side of Chicago. Cheers, Bill
praep
Very nice shot and manipulation - your images are full of mood and so the words are. I always try tu understand all the things you said - thats why I'm late with your gallery my friend.
sawade
Hi Chip, so is that with that. All town changes, we are living in. Mostly the new parts are better, but the older, now fallen parts are full of our memories and now lost views. And sometimes it is a pity, that I have not shot more shots of the old times. And my first impression of the interestant picture above: It remembers me: Starcraft, the sciencefiction game for the pc, smile. After the battle number 10. All the best, Bernd