In June 2016, a group of mostly white, mostly middle-aged female photographers embarked on an ambitious project: to photograph a different iconic Chicago neighborhood each month for a full year. The project was a visual adventure, an introduction to new friends, a love affair with our beautiful city, and an investigation of lives beyond our own, dramatically underscoring the pros and cons of gentrification. For me, it may never end!
The twelve-month trek took me to places I’d been many times but hadn’t really seen at all. And, while I’ve lived in Chicago more than 30 years, it exposed me to the extremes of wealth and poverty in our city, well beyond my own experience. It opened my eyes to work to be done….
After a year, our group – Women in Focus/Chicago – shifted gears to cull through the 1000s of photos we shot in preparation for a series of public exhibitions. The first full show of the work, featuring 72 shots as curated by Chicago photography experts Rich Cahan and Chuck Osgood, opens Friday, April 13, from 7 – 10 p.m. at The Hairpin Arts Center. Here’s a selection of my shots that didn’t make the cut. You’ll have to come to the show to see my best!
