Looking East by Chipka
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Description
The dark gods are silent tonight; and so the city sleeps as peacefully as any city might. The gods sleep as well: they are creatures of commerce, creatures of banking; they are only awake during normal business hours. Those who serve them (worship is a forbidden word: never used, never even whispered in the vacant spaces between thought) take what moments of life the night offers. They plan for the following day: they choose what to wear, what ties or subtle sartorial flourishes will distinguish them from their compatriots. It doesn’t matter, the gods they serve make no distinctions between one human and another. Humans, to such gods, are all the same…good if they are useful, bad if they are not. Nothing more. Nothing less.
On nights, when the dark gods sleep and the city sleeps as well, light dances through the darkness; it is reflected from the lake, or the river; it slides from metal. It shimmers. It whispers through sheets of transparent glass, or sighs-with color through panes tinted blue, green, red, or amber.
The city at night, when the dark gods of commerce and banking are asleep, is a place where other nocturnal creatures roam. Such creatures are the things of nightmare for some, but as a creature of the night myself, I know that a nightmare is little more than inspiration seen in reverse.
This is yet another of the zillions of shots I took along the curve of Wacker Drive at night. Once, I held a job in that area, and so I know much of it as anyone might know the neighborhood around their place of work. Now I work elsewhere and have chosen other paths to walk, but it’s still an amazing thing to see downtown Chicago: a place I came to know intimately, from a distance, both emotional and temporal.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week.
Comments (29)
blankfrancine
Fine nighttime photography.
LovelyPoetess
Chicago looks much prettier by night. Another excellent shot : )
NefariousDrO
You are a master of night-photography, your shots always look magical or ethereal. They are as much of a joy for us as the fascinating way you write about them.
tennesseecowgirl
Beautiful glimpse into Chicago... love the night time shot.
SerenityBlue
Beautiful POV of Chicago. It looks so peaceful. Of course, looks are usually deceiving. Even our city is never peaceful, even if it looks like it.
auntietk
I love your night shots, and this is no exception! You always capture something ... mysterious ... ineffable ... about the city. It always blows me away that you're able to get these amazing results without a tripod. Beautiful!
jac204
The grass there looks like a carpet. Beautiful capture.
Sea_Dog
I can only echo the others - this image has a wonderful, mysterious feel to it.
anaber
The spell of silence lit, is what i feel in your photo.Grabs me!!Love this very much.
bmac62
Your image....so neat, so clean, so crisp, so sharp...all that the gods hope for while they sleep. Keeping up appearances is soooo important in their world. I too love your night photography...but in this area of Chicago there is so much artificial illumination, the sun seems to never set. Wow...
myrrhluz
I will get to your wonderful image in a minute, but first I have to spend some time on your words. In a relatively short narrative, you blew me away with your evocatively descriptive phrasing. "never even whispered in the vacant spaces between thought" is a favorite. Also the wonderful descriptions of the dances of light. Your words are beautiful, and not for the first time, painted images in my skull. I'm getting quite a cluttered gallery up there. Maybe that is why I can never find my keys. Beautiful image! I like the black sky, which adds to the cold closed down look. As does the manicured lawn and regulation spaced trees. Beautiful light, showing up in balls, lingering on railings and trees, and painting the water. There is a magical look to this. The single individual adds to that. That is a person in the bottom left corner is it not, and not some spirit of the night. Superb words and capture!
CaressingTheDark
Great city scape
jocko500
the night do look wonderful as is light dance. wonderful image and words
beachzz
The night speaks, but not all of us hear it. There are whispers from earlier conversations that seem to waft down from windows, or was that just one of your nocturnal creatures making it way down the street. No matter, it's just a sound, part of the mood, the feel, the senses of your mind. Beautiful shot, Chip, and your description simply draws an even more intricate foto.,
Crabbycabby
Great work Loved the narrative.
helanker
WOOHOWW! THat is indeed fantastic cityscape. I just LUV it. It is absolutely wonderful. Looks like you were the only one in town :-)
durleybeachbum
Like Lucinda I love the richness of your narrative, especially "what ties or subtle sartorial flourishes will distinguish them from their compatriots". A simple thought but filled with such meaning. Your beautiful photo is astonishing for it's lack of people! Difficult to find such a shot in the centre of my town even at night.
flavia49
golden night! splendid tale!
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
MrsRatbag
What they all said! Wonderful!
makron
Wonderful city scape.
marybelgium
beautiful night photo from Chicago were I have never been !!! perhaps one day !
sandra46
THE NIGHT HAS ALWAYS A FASCINATION ONE CANNOT RESIST! AWESOME IMAGE!
lick.a.witch
Fabulous. Stunningly so! This ought to be the norm in all cities! To be wrapped in the blanket of night and lit from within. Best of all, no people and Chip to supply the wonderful narrative! Perfect! ^=^
nikolais
great match again!
aksirp
love this niht pictures! stunning for a villager:)
RodS
Beautiful night view of Chicago! There is just something magical about nighttime photography - I've always loved night photos. And you do them so well!
KatesFriend
I am very struck by how pristine it looks in this quiet moment. Surreal in a sense, since no one expects any portion of a city of humans to look so untouched such as this. And wreathed in her veils of light (all those lovely colours you mention) the city moves from pristine to glorious. Like the gods you describe. And, surely there is nothing more enchanting than a living tree drenced in the artificial light of a city's night.
danapommet
You have such a nice way with night photos. Just lovely and so is the DOF. Dana