Author: mpriorie

Photographing Chicago since 1993.
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Old Absinthe House- NOLA

©2020 Michael Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

Old Absinthe House. The French Quarter bar that’s has a 200 plus year history. The place where a pirate named Jean Lafitte made a deal with Andrew Jackson and in return helped propel the British from advancing down the Mississippi and ended the War of 1812.

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Favela Chic- NOLA

©2020 Michael Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

One of the many fine music clubs located on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans. Its on a strip of about 15 venues that play music of all genres (although the main draw is jazz, of course) from the afternoon until well into the wee hours. This area has such an electricity to it. It’s perfect. It must not change!

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Graffiti Art- NOLA

©2020 Michael Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

Art takes on many levels of expression. This is so true in a place like New Orleans. This was off of Frenchmen Street in the Marigny. The combination of tones and text heightens the message here. The message itself is subjective.

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Captain Cubbo

©2019 Michael Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

My Co-Worker Roberto is a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan. Growing up, he lived across the street from Wrigley Field on Sheffield Avenue. About four years ago, he decided to create a character based on The Cubs when taking his kids to Comic-Con. That was the genesis of what became his alter ego: Captain Cubbo. Since then, he’s appeared at many games dressed in character, much to the delight of fans. He’s even been well received at a St. Louis Cardinals game! Captain Cubbo has been spotted by TV cameras and appears frequently on La Vida Baseball podcasts.
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In Progress

©2019 Michael Priorie Photography. All Rights Reserved.

Looking back at a lot of my work from my film days of the 90’s, the word ‘gentrification’ played itself out in the many subjects I had photographed. I’ve seen many neighborhoods in Chicago undergo extreme change. While the premise of this was ideally good–to make neighborhoods safer and better–it’s outcome made it’s original residents refugees as these areas such as Logan Square became the land of developers and wealthy implants. Artists first come for the cheaper rent, the hipsters support neighborhood shops and start up new ones. But the developers and property owners are the ones who buy up the real estate, only to charge ridiculous rents in order to make the neighborhood theirs instead of everyones. This is another one of Sam Kirk’s murals, a multidisciplinary artist whose art focuses on the culture and history of these neighborhoods undergoing change.

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#Everbody In

©2019 Michael Priorie Photography. All Rights Reserved.

I’ve been a Chicago Cubs fan since I was nine years old when my mother took me to my first game. Although I would not follow baseball for many years, The 2015 season brought me back to enjoying baseball and the 2016 World Series win just topped that. I only wish my mother would’ve been around to see that happen. This mural is on 16th Street west of Halsted .

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Marlena

©2019 Michael Priorie Photography. All Rights Reserved.

The recent murder of mother -to- be Marlena Ochoa was a vile and disgusting piece of news. Without getting into the gory details, I would like to hope that justice gets served for the three persons involved and may allow the family and friends of Marlena to take solace and try to move forward from this horrible event. This is a newly painted mural in her honor just west of Halsted on 16th. Street in Pilsen. RIP Marlena.

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Holiday Club, 1997

Holiday-Club-1996-©2019 Michael Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

Around 1997, I went on a road trip to the West Coast. While in San Francisco, I stumbled upon an underground scene where Swing music was enjoying a revival. It was complete with clubs that played live big band music and cool kids who dressed in vintage 1940’s Zoot suits and poodle skirts. Fedoras were a must. The trend came to Chicago to places like the Holiday Club but it didn’t get a big as it was on the West Coast. That was too bad because I enjoyed getting dressed up in vintage clothes and seeing those big bands play. 

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6 Corners, 1995

©2019 Michael Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

In Chicago, the area of Portage Park where the intersections of Irving Park Rd., Cicero Avenue and Milwaukee Avenue meet is traditionally known as 6 Corners. Some people out there will immediately argue and claim Milwaukee/Damen/North Avenue as 6 Corners– It is not! In my forty plus years on this earth, it’s always the area on the Northwest side of the city by where the (former site) Sears is located. This photo was taken on a foggy evening in December 1995.