Brad Pitt and I share the exact same birthday (month, day, year) outside of that, our stories diverge considerably. Mr. Pitt went on to become an internationally famous superstar, while I have led the much more interesting life of the starving artist. I come from a long line of storytellers (whose gift for gab stretches back through the mists of time to our native Ireland) and professional malcontents who were seemingly born to create something in the arts, be it music, writing, sculpture, painting, or photography. I started writing at age 12 with a screenplay with my cousin Ryan about a planet where everyone looked like Elton John entitled "Don't I Know You?" More screenplays followed, several of which received epic Super-8 production with budgets that sometimes ran up to $10. A few even had sound!  More writing followed: songs, poems, short stories, numerous unfinished novels, etc.. Somewhere in there was an attempt at being a rock star...
Still living at home, at age 22, my father dropped an elderly Nikromatt 35-mm film camera into my lap, in the hopes that I would "make a go of it" as a photojournalist. That didn't happen, but I did develop an abiding love of photography that along with writing and archival work have been among the chief passions of my life. When it comes to my photography, I try to be as creative as possible while at the same time striving for a documentary/archival quality. The only set rules I adhere to, when it comes to making pictures are: 1.) Try not to make the picture blurry, and 2.) Don't drop the camera.
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Comments (18)
Chipka
Chicago does bleakness rather well...especially in its dominant season: Winter. Of course we only have one season here...winter with a warm snap. I love the snow, the ice, and the clouds, all with a healthy dollop of slush woven through it and those docking berths look positively lonely. Harbors without boats are always strangely haunting, and the only thing that tops that, at least, in terms of haunting-ness, are harbors with derelict boats. I love the sheer lifelessness of this scene: no people, no gulls, no signs that anything moves or lives at all...this could be The Day After, or some strange pause in which reality re-sets itself. Great stuff. I like this a lot.
Digitaleagle
A lonely atmosphere with a touch of desperration, excellent capture!
auntietk
Having just travelled across the middle of Kansas and western Nebraska (thinking of Namibia as we rolled along), the tone of this image really resonates with me today! I can truly appreciate the nothing-ness of the image. Endless rangeland with one or two houses in the distance (or nothing at all) and a row of trees for a windbreak ... it's strangely compelling. I love your image for that immediacy, and for the fact that it appears to be in b&w when I'm quite sure it's really in color. Excellent picture!
Wolfmanw
Excellent capture, clarity and burr I am so cold.
myrrhluz
We only have one season too, but it surely isn't this one. On the rare occasion where our roads are icy in San Antonio, there is a steady litany of accident reports on the radio. Beautiful image! The lines of the docks and shore stand out in sharp relief against the snow, and ice. The slabs of ice and heavy sky, give it such a feeling of brutal cold. Wonderful winter shot!
durleybeachbum
Beautiful indeed, but not something I would enjoy for more than a few days!
rainbows
You are so right, I can feel the cold. We all have this to look forward to in Wintertime. Wonderful capture, Corey. Diane.
minos_6
This is something we don't get here in London - well, we do get occasional snow, but there are no frozen lakes, and the river hasn't frozen in my living memory. This is a strangely desolate scene, and it's a little sad in a way. I imagine it looks a lot different in Summer, and I'd be curious to see that. Great capture, Corey!
marybelgium
beautiful !
sandra46
superlative, impressive image!
flavia49
marvelous picture!
KateBlack10
Really nice shot Corey - it really captures what Chicago looks like in the hauntingly beautiful wintertime
KatesFriend
There is a curiously graceful ballet going on under these circumstances tough most people don't notice. The ice and the water co-exist together two manifestations of the same thing. Rather a lot like how matter is 'frozen energy'. And molecules slip easily, almost as if at will, from one form to another and back again. I think this effect has a subtle hypnotic appeal to the viewer as they watch the water and ice wash over each other. The shot itself feels cold, perhaps because it is really cold in my part of the world tonight, or maybe the blues and grays evoke an instinctive reaction to the scene. But it is an effective capture. Happy Halloween!
kasalin
Love your pov and your image !!!! EXCELLENT, dear Corey :)
beachzz
This has an endlessly cold, neverending look to it. Somehow I have the idea when it's this cold, freezing for days on end, it must seem neverending. You caught that beautifully with this shot.
jeanebean
Brrrr This is cold, lonely and desolate. Love Chicago in the summer, but winter is hard to tolerate. Your really nailed it Corey. Great shot.
anahata.c
Can I feel the cold wind biting through my body? I was out there all last winter photographing! My hands sued me, my coat said it had better gigs on a mountain lion, and my face turned to granite & cracked and flaked off when I got inside. This is one frozen chicago shot---and it's beautiful. And once again, that angle is just perfect. (I've done angles---sometimes inspired by you!---and every damned time they've been pretentious. "Get over yourself, Mark" type of stuff. When you do it? It's fine.) Really nice linear sweep, perfect angles for the location, fine play between snow & black shadows, a wonderful music in the ice rhythms, and that midwest frigid sky that we do so well. Wonderful january hues. I'm very glad you posted this. It would've been a shame if it sat in a folder somewhere. More wonderful work from you, Corey.
helanker
YIKEs it looks so freaking cohohold BRRR ! I am NOT looking forward to the cold winter, but this shot is so beautiful and the bridges so slippery :-)