PHOTOGRAPHY
©2013. Mike Priorie. All Rights Reserved.
Nothing is more iconic than Schwinn bicycles are to Chicago. My dad worked at the original factory on Kostner Ave. for over thirty years. It’s great to see people still finding these old bikes and fixing them up. They were very well built. It’s a fixture around Logan Square that’s for sure.
©2013. Mike Priorie. All Rights Reserved.
I was just on a walk around Bucktown one fall afternoon and saw this. One must remember that beauty can be also found right at home and not only in national parks. This is how I can describe autumn in Chicago.
©2013. Mike Priorie. All Rights Reserved.
Around this time, vintage anything was popping up everywhere . This was evident here in Chicago, especially Wicker Park. Of course at the time finding mint saddles shoes or a nice red and black chrome 1950s dining set was in decent abundance. Nowadays, you’d be pretty lucky to find a original in good condition. The ones I’ve seen recently were all crap unless you bought a replica for new.
It’s funny how in the midst of all the technology of that time, how there was such an underground movement to bring back the mid twentieth century. In this period, I fell in love with the ideologies of The Beats. Going out and doing your things for kicks really inspired me. That’s why I started to dig the art scene in Wicker Park back then. Everything happening coincided with how I felt. It seems like the dressed-in-black days of the old Belmont and Clark were over, and a new, plaid shirt bohemian existence was beginning.
©2013. Mike Priorie. All Rights Reserved.
In 1994, Wicker Park was already the ‘hot’ new area in the city. It was the heart of Chicago’s music scene, and a flourishing art community. Change was evident everywhere . In the two years since I started to come down here, more and more places were popping up. Anything from vintage clothing stores, to bars, to coffee shops. It was an exciting time for this neighborhood, once a pretty rough area in the city.
©2013. Mike Priorie. All Rights Reserved.
One of the busiest ‘L’ stations in Chicago. The Red, Brown, and Purple lines all stop here. This IS the hub of Chicago’s North side. The station was rebuilt some years back to accommodate the large passenger loads and looks nothing like this picture. This view to the west has also changed. The spread of gentrification now reaches as far as Western Avenue. At this time, it was nearing Ashland, about a mile west. The liquor store on the corner is still there–with its bright neon sign, but sadly, Muskie’s is gone.
MICHAEL A. PRIORIE 