Author: mpriorie

Photographing Chicago since 1993.
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57th Street Mural 1994

57th-Street-Viaduct-Mural-1994

©2013. Mike Priorie. All Rights Reserved.

With a friend just hanging out, I ventured into Hyde Park one Saturday afternoon. After we got off the #6 Jeffrey Express bus from downtown, we started to walk west down 57th street. It was a pleasant September day, and I randomly clicked away. When we started walking underneath the Metra tracks, I came across this great mural. It was showing some age and some graffiti, but I was fascinated by how it looked. The dim lighting, the peeling paint, all seemed to inspire me. It was one part urban decay, one part nostalgia. It definitely told a story about the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and how it impacted Hyde Park and Chicago itself. I saw it as a strong image– but I still didn’t see a connection yet. It was too early.

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A New Project, 1994

me-bongo-room-1995

Flash forward one year; It was now the fall of 1994. I had completed two full semesters of Photography and my interest in the subject had only seemed to grow stronger. I had spent the summer photographing various things just to keep myself motivated. I was happy that I did not have to endure the technical assignments of the second semester class (Although I tell people today that those technical assignments actually helped you in the long run.) .

With entering the third semester course, I now had to pick a project to do. I realized at that point that I hadn’t really considered my options.  After self-loathing and debate, I chose to go out one weekend and shoot a “whatever” roll just as a crapshoot to see if I got anything.