most of chicago

one of the great things in chicago are the cleaners' windows. always with some kind of neon and a descriptive installation of a suit, or a sewing machine or something.

every time i went past this bookstore it was shut (even when it said it would be open).

"the bean" (is it really called that?) by anish kapoor in millennium park.

i, like every other human with a camera, was hypnotised into taking far too many pictures of it.

pritzker pavilion by the other frank. so delightfully nautical from this angle.

is it wrong that i find the concrete back-ends of his buildings so much more interesting?

crown hall. (more iit stuff on the film that's still in my camera.)

flw

i can't sleep, so here's some frank lloyd wright.

i learned pretty early on that you're not allowed to stray from the pavement. i had this shot lined up but closer and with incredible glowing light (see next photo) when i hear this honking vehicle coming down the road. i presume the honking is not for me, how wrong i was. the guy was livid, so i pulled my sweetest 'how was i to know' moves and he calmed down. and then he drove off. this is not even his house! he didn't even work for the foundation. he trawled around the block a few times after that too so i behaved myself. made me think of the hemingway quote (he was born in oak park, by the bye) "oak park is a neighbourhood of wide lawns and narrow minds." harsh? maybe.

can you tell how hot it is? about 40 degrees with no wind at all.

it's all pretty early stuff, the beginnings of prairie.

but there are a few very familiar elements at work (dad).

unity temple.

beautiful.

and as a closer, so you can have it in your head too

 "architects may come, and architects may go, and never change your point of view". 

not that i strictly believe everything simon and garfunkel say, but there's definitely some kind of inherent connection with me and frank. probably has a lot to do with melvista, and that teeshirt.

chicago : coming soon

self portrait

buildings and shit

the new museum by SANAA.

and the view from the sixth floor terrace.

obviously. more flw coming too.

(quite like this one)

the highline, again.

brooklyn. williamsburg. N10th street, i think.

boys boys boys

matt (not posing).

darling david.

rupert.

rupert on his birthday.

henrryyy.

dave again.

josh.

and last but not least, ky.

my absolute favourite young men. it was unspeakably good to all be together again.

josh's thesis

running about town with young joshie to document architecture referenced in his paper. this is prada by rem koolhaas.

storefront by steven holl.

the man himself.

the highline by diller scofidio.

just because

this is pica. she belongs to ky's roommate, julia. she's the second best cat in the world.

girls

kate,

aggy,

and i.

all doing something a little bit silly. this was ages ago when kate had just come home from six weeks in spain, and aggy and i spent the morning shopping for summer dresses because the bbc told us it was going to be a perfect day for sitting in the garden. they lied.

in the interim

i've just had most of my new york films developed, and they're coming, don't you worry about that (i have a feeling this jet-lag is going to linger). also, the chronology is going to be weird because a) i like to do the film first and b) i didn't actually take that many digitals. but in the end that doesn't really matter does it? anyway, on with the show.

one day, i met ellie down in borough and it was only much later that i realised i'd become so accustomed to shooting cheap film that my camera was still set for ISO400. i quite like it though.

ellie and lexi lexington (lex luther).

another day i went to the southbank again, heading towards tatemod.

actually i think these are two separate occasions, because this is a derelict building near st paul's that i had been meaning to get off the bus and photograph for ages and i finally did on my way to tatemod (i remember, i walked) so it must have been a different day.

i just worked out what this reminds me of - an image from that old history of architecture textbook by nikolas pevsner. dad, you know the one. the colour and the quality are very fitting.

i should really stop taking my camera to the tatemod. i just keep taking the same photos over and over again.

that same building on the way home (see previous comment).

upon my return

i discovered a tiny cat in my room

and the make-shift bandaid i fashioned from my old luggage tag.

more new york/chicago stuff to come.