Cinderella Seen at Marshall Fields...

As requested...

I had meant to get these images shot and posted sooner, especially after the unveiling of the windows several weeks ago. I was waiting for the right moment to get out there and take them without the crowds. Well the right moment was this past Sunday, just after 7AM. So, I bring you all eleven windows including the verbiage to go along with... Enjoy!

1. Once upon a time there lived an exceptionally beautiful, but unhappy girl named Cinderella. Her cruel stepsisters treated her horribly, making her do all of the hard work, cooking, and cleaning, while they lived like queens.


2. News arrived that the king's son was throwing a grand Christmas ball where he was to choose a bride. The sisters primped and planned endlessly, warning Cinderella she was not invited.


3. Unbeknownst to her stepsisters, Cinderella secretly had her own magnificent ball gown.


4. Cinderella's stepsisters and stepmother discovered the gown and jealously ripped it to shreds.


5. Suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared and repaired the gown with the help of Cinderella�s animal friends. The new dress was even more spectacular than the original. "You wish in your heart to attend the ball; is it not so?" the fairy godmother asked. "Oh yes!" cried Cinderella. More than anything in the world."


6. With a wave of her wand, the fairy godmother made it so. She transformed lizards into footmen, mice into horses, a toad into a coachman, and a pumpkin into a splendid carriage. As Cinderella waved goodbye, the fairy godmother cautioned her, "Do not stay past midnight when everything magical will turn back to normal."


7. So lovely was Cinderella, the entire ballroom was awestruck by her radiance - especially the prince, who danced with Cinderella only from that moment on.


8. Lost in the magic of the evening, Cinderella heard the clock struck twelve. Startled, she jumped and fled up the stairs. In her haste, she lost one of her crystal slippers. "I will find the one who fits this slipper, for she is to become my wife," vowed the prince. He then ordered his servants to try the slipper on every maiden in the land.


9. One by one, they tried on the shoe in vain. The stepsisters also tried desperately but unsuccessfully to squeeze into the shoe.


10. Cinderella escaped from her room just in the nick of time and slid her foot right into the crystal slipper. It fit perfectly and the prince realized he had found his beautiful princess.


11. The prince and Cinderella had a fairy-tale wedding and lived happily ever after.


I will continue to shoot more of Fields final year before it become Macy's.

Random Mondays 11.28.05...

Today's random images come from my wandering around the loop over the past month.

First up... This shot taken down State Street yesterday morning from the SW corner of State and Randolph.


Close up of "Untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA)" 1991 by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Taken at the Art Institute yesterday.


Flags flying on the plaza at Chase Tower.


View between towers at Marina City.

Let the Shopping Begin...

As much as I love living in the Loop (and I can't imagine living any where else at this point in my life), there are moments when the daily comings and goings from my apartment are a pain in the ass. So begins five weeks of "Dodge the Shopper". Now, don't get me wrong, I want all 8.5 million Chicagoland residents, and their visiting relatives, to come down here and experience the joys of the city. Even better if they max out their credit cards here, instead of at their local mall. But, that doesn't negate the challenges posed by folks who aren't used to being pedestrians, having little experience crossing streets full of vehicle traffic, and happily giving money to saxophone players sorely in need of lessons. In the end, it is the price I must endure for living in paradise, and fortunately for me, my paradise returns in five weeks.

I have had a request for holiday pictures of Marshall Field's last holiday as Marshall Field's. So not to disappoint, here are a few shots I took yesterday and today. I promise more will come. You can be sure I will do my best to document the transition from Field's to Macy's

This shot taken last night as the snow was coming down on the holiday shoppers.


Here is the crowd as seen tonight.


Earlier today, I was on Randolph and snapped this image of the line of people waiting to see the windows. While the windows are fantastic, I am so thankful not to have to wait in line to see them.


Nearby, the Chicago Theater moments ago as I was creating this posting. Note the sea of heads below the marquee.


Also currently going on is tonight's performance of Wicked.

20,000 and counting

Fellow readers, I wanted to send out a note of gratitude for making my site a regular place to visit. My hit counter clocked 20,000 hits today, and when you factor in about 5% of them being mine, that isn't so bad for a site that started out last January as simply a place to post some photos. I didn't imagine that this would grow as well as it has.

As a side note... A new and improved site is in the works, and I look forward to bringing you more of my "nabe", the Loop.

Thanks, keep checkin' back,
Devyn...

Making Way for MoMo II...

Continuing from me earlier post, I was just down on State and Randolph, and got a closer look at the ongoing demolition.


Looking at the debris through the window shrouded in mesh to keep the construction debris from falling and killing people. Again those orange girders add great contrast to the otherwise bleak image.


More construction debris. This is definitely a more artistic view of the demolition.

Making Way for MoMo...

Demolition on the two story building on the corner of State and Randolph continues. The building is coming down to be replaced by MoMo (stupid name, cool building). This "taxpayer" building was built in the 40s after the demolition of the Masonic Temple (Daniel Burnham, 1892, image) was taken down in 1939 due to being "outdated".

Last week I shot these images looking down as the building is being "disassembled" piece by piece. The building contained what was until September of this year, the oldest continually operating Walgreens in the entire chain, along with several boarded up shops, and a shuttered movie theater.


Worker with torch cutting steel beams. I am lovin the orange color of the beams.


Debris being dumped into what was the old theater.


The old theater space (known as the Loop Theater, of which there is very little online) in the back of the building. Folks who have been around a while, will tell you about how this theater went from showing legit movies in the 40s and 50s, to "B" movies in the 60s and 70's to finally becoming a porn theater. The space was later used by live theater groups until as recently as 2002.


This morning the building looks even less like it's former self.

Mid-Continental Plaza... As Backdrop...

Often overlooked, this late modernist (1972) high-rise on the eastern side of the Loop, has a boldness all it's own. Mid-Continental Plaza is actually one of the largest buildings in the Loop, it has 50 floors and covers a full half block of Wabash between Monroe and Adams.


I like the building's simple Mies inspired lines. They make a great backdrop for capturing the sculptural lines of the Pritzker Pavilion's framework.


Again, as a backdrop to late 19th century buildings along Michigan Ave.


While the building is huge, it doesn't overwhelm the skyline.


Closer up, again as backdrop to the buildings along Michigan Ave.

Sunset Time

Sitting in front of my computer at work last week, I looked over a few minutes before it was time to go home and saw this amazing sky as the sun was setting down for the night.


This prompted me to take my camera and take a couple of shots out of nearby windows. Here is Canal Street looking south towards Union Station.


A few of the thousands of "Metra'ites", rushing across the Madison Street Bridge on their way to the train station.


Looking up at the Sears Tower

Random Mondays 11.21.05...

Looking through my images for this weeks random post, I was thinking about the built up environment and how we try to balance that environment with nature.

The first two images are related to density, followed by a bit of urban nature.


Condo's at 630 N Franklin nearing completion. It looked as though two or three units in the building are inhabited, but the rest are sans window treatment waiting for their new owners.


Now for a bit of nature... LaSalle Street median, looking north towards Ohio St.


Winter doesn't allow much for flowers in Chicago, so planters all over the city become filled with evergreen branches and red sticks (branches a florist would charge a fortune for).Wacker Drive at Wabash, looking towards the Jewelers building.

Squeegie and a Rope...

Next to my building is an office building where I saw these guys window washing.


I haven't really had the chance to see this process up close. At least from the outside that is. These guys are real professionals, they have a real skill, and worked together as a team.


I noticed some of them (there were actually six in all) wore gloves, and others did it bare handed. I can't help but under it the one's doing it bare handed think the ones wearing the "Playtex Living Gloves" (link may not be work appropriate) aren't just a bit less manly. I think they are just smart for protecting their hands.


I stood there watching them for a good 15-20 minutes, as they worked their way down the building. Glad to know that there are those that would do that, and I hope they get paid well for their work.

"This is Lake"...

The Lake Street Station re-opened recently after what seemed like a year of construction. (Why does it take the CTA twice as long to do anything?). The new platform actually has enough light that I can take a picture. Here are a few I took this last week.


Looking south towards the Washington stop, you can see where the former darkness begins.


I can't help but notice the quality fine craftsmanship of the poorly aligned light canopy.

Pittsfield Escape...

The Pittsfield Building (1927) has recently undergone a nice facade washing bringing out the fact that it is actually white. This shot from the alley shows that for decades, the world most likely thought of this as a building in various shades of grey, as shown in the unwashed section on the left.


Around on the Wabash Street side, the surface detail is brought out in the shadows from the sun. There is a lot of texture going on on this building.


Unlike it black alley counterpart, the fire escape on the Wabash side is also painted white so as to blend in (or at least not stand out). I like this shot because fire escapes are most often painted black, and it is difficult to get good detail when photographing them for lack of light.


A google search for "Hanke Iron & Wire Works" comes up with absolutely nothing. They must have gone out of business long, long ago.

Death of a Billboard...

The billboard atop the old Loop Theater Building at State and Randolph has been a fixture for decades, and as of 7:22 this morning, it is history...

I was taking shots of the ground breaking set up for Block 37 when I noticed the severe lean on the big billboard.


Closer up you can see the sparks flying from the acetylene torch.


Going, Going...


Gone. Wow, I have a new temporary view of the painted Chicago Theater sign.

They have been demolishing the building to make way for MOMO, a cool new condo building with a stupid name.

Temporary View to Become Less Temporary...

My view from my apartment is one step closer to becoming less of a view today. 108 N State officially breaks ground this morning. When I did a post about being mentioned in this article (registry may be required) in the Tribune last spring, I knew that this day was soon to come. (I knew it when I bought the place back in 2002, but I also knew that once the project is completed, I stand to make more money when I sell.)
You have no idea how much I want to play hooky from work today to be there for the ceremony, one problem, I don't have an invite... So, I took this shot this morning when I got up. You can see the tent and covered red carpet.


(EDIT: 7:30 AM) A few minutes later I took this shot... Take a close look at the billboard on the NE corner of State and Randolph... More to come...

Random Mondays 11.14.05...

35th Street over-pass on Dan Ryan, connecting Sox Park with the Southern edge of IIT.


View from window last week somewhere over a "fly-over" state between California and Chicago.


Corner of classroom building, IIT Campus. Mies just had a way with corners...


Reflection of West Tower, Marina City, in Leo Burnett Building on Wacker Drive.

Burning Pasha...

Walking through River North this afternoon, we came across a fire in the apartments above Pasha on N. Clark and Ontario. It always pains me to see a 19th century building on fire. Not that I want to see any building on fire, but I especially hate to think that if there is too much damage, this one would have to be torn down. There has been enough destruction of 19th century buildings in River North.

Smoke was pouring out of the top floor windows when we got there...


Moments later, the smoke died down a bit and firemen began smashing out the windows on the top floor.


Fireman chatting with Seamen.


The gurney standing ready by at the curb (left). There was an ambulance hauling at least one person away when we arrived. I hope there was no serious harm to anybody.

The Last Unveiling...

This morning at 8:30 AM, the Marshall Field's State Street store revealed their holiday windows for the last time as Marshall Field's. Next year these will be Macy's windows. I saw from my apartment the crowd gathering at the entrance and felt I needed to get downstairs to experience it myself.


Along the front of the store, there was the red carpet, and handsome young sentries guarding each window which was draped in preparation for the reveal.


More of the red carpet.


I tried in vain to capture the horse-drawn carriage delivering both Santa Clause and Cinderella to the front of the store for the ceremony. This is Cinderella as she was greeting the crowd. With a count to three, a shout out to happy holiday's, and the waiving of silver magic wands... The draped windows simultaneously opened revealing this years Cinderella theme (like you couldn't guess by having Cinder herself in the carriage with Santa).


Here she is in the window with a more glamorous gown.


And finally, here is Santa (or "Santee Claws" as a close friend would say), waiving at the crowd. Note his private rent-a-cop behind him looking out for suicide bombers in the crowd.

The Presence of People...

As many of those that regularly read my blog know, I don't often post images with people in them. Artistically, I like to focus on the structure, pattern, shade, architecture, etc... When taking images in locations where people often are (such as sidewalks), I usually wait until they pass by before I take the shot.
Today while looking through my images, I found a few which include people that I felt worthy of posting. I feel these images would not be the same if the people were not in them.

This gentleman looked as though he had been working in that box for a long, long time.


Taken at a secret location on Michigan Ave... Three people (whom are very close to me) maintain anonymity as I capture their shapes.


Looking down from an office near where I work, the morning rush at Madison and Wacker.


Shapes again... It is often only the shape that is necessary to create a sense of presence.

Re-Looped Again...

Thanks to the effort of someone close (thanks Mike), I have been mentioned on Gapers Block in reference to my "Unknown Loop Streets" series I ran this past Summer. This ties into the series that is running in the Tribune on Unauthorized Alleys.

You too can get in on the fun and take a look at my re-cap post "Re-Looped". (Thank you Kevin at Gapers Block.)

Temporary Fall Reflections...

This past Sunday, standing at the corner of State and Washington, I noticed the image of the Marshall Fields Clock reflected in a puddle on the corner surrounded by fall leaves.


So, I stood there and shot about 25 images of the clock, the fall leaves, the puddle, and...


the Pittsfield Building.

Random Mondays 11.07.05...

This weeks images are random ones taken close to home. All were shot within three blocks of home.


Jeweler's Building, yesterday afternoon.


Wicked Green.


System Parking.

Capitol City...

I just got back from a visit with the 'rents in Sacramento last night. It had been too long since my last trip to where I grew up.
I am sure what most (if anything) people have heard about Sacramento hasn't been all that favorable, but I can assure you that if you went, you would be pleasantly surprised. This really is a city, a small one, but none the less, a real one.

Here are a few images I took over the past few days. To start... The ubiquitous California shot.


The ubiquitous Capitol City shot (and workplace of the "Govenator")


Looking west down Capitol Mall, towards Tower Bridge, at sundown.


The artsy version of the same view.


And lastly, Sacramento has a wonderful selection of still functioning neon. The exceptionally mild weather allows these signs with little maintenance to survive for decades.


The Crest Theater is no longer showing first run movies, but after being shuttered for several years, I was glad to see it alive again.


Final shot... Crest Theater

Away on Vacation, Be Back Soon!

I am on a trip to California, and will return by Sunday... More to come... >D<

Random Mondays 11.01.05 (?)...

OK, So it's really Tuesday... Yesterdays post was too date specific to postpone.

The first picture I am putting was taken last night at Daley Plaza (see last nights post), note the comparison to the second image taken this evening, as I was walking home from work.


Although the image from tonight is a bit blurry (I can't carry my tripod everywhere), this is a huge change from last night. (Note: The next time you see water in the fountain, it will be green for St. Patricks Day.)


More random-ness here....
I was noticing just how much detail there is at the top of the Jewelers Building. The large room in the dome is used as a conference/presentation room for Murphy Jahn.


Close up of the top of Aon, 2 Pru, and the Carbon and Carbide buildings. The last two images were taken at different times from the roof of east tower, Marina City.


View of the city from just outside the Lincoln Park Zoo from a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit too postcard for me, but it is pretty none the less.