Welcome to I Am Chicago

A gallery of photographs showing the tremendous richness of the way that Chicagoans present themselves to the public - the faces, bodies, attitudes, clothes, accessories, tools of everyday life that people lug with them - morph wildly from North to South and East to West.

Our portraits document 30 Chicago corners spanning two years and all seasons. Each neighborhood of Chicago is represented through a careful selection of portraits of its citizens as they passed by our makeshift studio in the course of a single day. To entice Chicagoans to pose for our lens, a professional studio portrait was printed on the spot and given to each participant.

Wicker Park – Milwaukee, Ashland, and Division

Jin, Vince, and Bucket

David

Michael and Audra

Markus and Red

Simone

Trevor and Lacey

Neil

Rachel, Cynthia, and Omar

Mary

Matthew

Lindsey

John and Lu

Diana, Pauline, and Patrick

Brendan, Brian, and Matt

Torean

Scott and Phil

Lola and Misa

Tim

Nicholas and Tony

Nicole, Kendra, and Guy

Elijah

Lia and John

Will

Zigmunt and Lela

Matt Roan -

Misa Challingsworth and Lola!

Misa Challingsworth -

Yay!!! It’s Lola and I!!!

Katie Avila -

adorable!

Bronwyn Mead -

Holy shit that’s cute.

Roger Torres -

This is what they want to show to the rest of the world very sad indeed.

Fernando Topete -

I cry.