This Image was made in Chicago, Illinois, in April 2022. My husband, also a photographer, and I were on a weekend trip to Chicago to see art and wander, doing street photography. We were staying in the hotel above the CIBC Theatre. I am drawn to big cities for photography as the visual chaos and density of people are great stimulation for seeing and capturing images.

It’s always amazing to me that my husband and I can be standing next to each other, and the photographs we make are totally different in subject and capture style.

This photo was a result of my fire phobia and curiosity as to where the fire escape doors of our hotel would lead in case we needed to use them. Walking in the alley next to the theatre and hotel led to finding the escape route and also the ghost sign with the great orange arrow and the geometrically interesting fire escape. First, I shot horizontal mode photos of the alley with the sign and fire escape in the far background, and some interesting light and trash bins in the foreground, but the color of the sign and the fire escape was too subtle. Next, I worked on the vertical composition, which brought the color of the brick, two shades of blue, into good contrast with the black fire escape.

I like this photo because it has a timeless quality with the charming old sign on the brick with the orange arrow. The fire escape lends a gritty and big city feel and contrasts with the pastel colors of the sign.

It was captured with my small street photo Sony RX100, and was handheld. I did use the grid on the LCD screen to get the lines straight when shooting.

Besides urban street photography, I love nature photography, in particular, pond photography, which I started doing during the pandemic when travel was not an option.

I started out in photography as an ophthalmic photographer, shooting eyeballs, retinas, corneas, and stereo photos of optic nerves using 35 mm cameras and color slide film. B&W film was used to do a series of circulations on the retina. The B&W film had to be developed and made into a Kodalith immediately after shooting for the doctor to view. When digital cameras became available, it was a much shorter process.

What are the TWO most impactful features that make your image a good photograph? Don’t be shy!

I think this photograph works first because of the color. The pastel blues with the contrasting orange arrow work as a backdrop for the dramatic black fire escape, making for a good contrast. Secondly, the composition makes this a good photo with half the sign visible and the offset fire escape making your eye travel around the photo.

If you could make this photo again, what would be the ONE thing you would like to do better or differently?

I’m happy with this photo as presented, but if I’m in Chicago again, I will seek out this alley and spend more time walking further down and seeing what a composition with the whole sign would look like. I was under a time crunch when taking it the first time.

Joanne Thompson shared this photograph with the FRAMES Facebook Group.

Photographer

Joanne Thompson, Minneapolis, Minnesota USA

INSTAGRAM

Equipment and settings

Sony DSC-RX100M6
1/400, F4, ISO500