Chicago Skylines: Part 3, Art and Culture

in #photography7 years ago (edited)

Time for the next part in the set! If you haven't been following along, start off by checking out part one here, and then part two here. If you're in the mood for some humour, @joseph also made a parody of my photos here!

Part 3 will distract a little bit away from me ogling skyscrapers all day long, and instead get a bit artsy, wandering around Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. So, let's get started!


Cloud Gate

Formally known as the Cloud Gate, this reflective sculpture is known to all as "The Bean". The coolest thing I find about it is that it is completely uniform, without seams, and is a hyperbolic structure -- okay, a little mathy, but it's cool! Taking a picture from the right angle can lead to some crazy infinite-mirror results.

For bonus points (and an upvote), can you figure out which person in the reflections is me?


Jay Pritzker Pavilion

This oddly-shaped amphitheatre in the north end of Millennium park serves as a place for performance, as well as an eye catching work of art. In fact, to get around height restrictions for buildings, the pavilion is technically a work of art, not a building. Loophole!


Art Institute Train

Walking past the Art Institute of Chicago, which is right beside Millennium park, I nabbed this photo of the Edit: "L" train South Shore Line station here -- which goes right through the institute. I quite like the style of the trains in Chicago: it seems to match well the metallic infrastructure and massive skyscrapers for a steampunk-y feel.


Cultural Center

Lastly, I peeked inside the Chicago Cultural Center, which is right across from the park and amphitheatre (which you can see in the last shot). The place had free access, and hosted a few exhibits -- but nothing too interesting to me while I was there. The building itself however is pretty cool: being a landmark and hosting a ton of exhibits year round, and originally being a library.

That's it for today; stay tuned for Part 4!



For those of you interested: Camera is Sony NEX-7, with my usual Zeiss 16-70mm lens.

Click an image to enlarge! They are, of course, down-sampled from my original copies; we can chat if you're interested in any full quality versions. As always, these are my original photos, and I maintain the copyright.

Don't forget to if you like my blog, I like to post picture stories!

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First, let me say that yours is one of the best photos I've seen of The Bean.

However, the trains by the Art Institute are not L trains. They belong to the South Shore Line, an interurban railroad which runs between Chicago's Loopand South Bend, Indiana.

Aha! Thanks for the clarification!

Aw man, I miss my city. During the summertime it gets so beautiful with Lollapalooza and all :) The only thing is.. I do NOT miss the winters one bit. They are brutal.

I worked across the street from the Cultural Center for 25 years. I spent a lot of lunch hours there.

Really nice pictures. And wow, that ceiling in the cultural center. Just amazing...!!

I love great architecture, so thanks for the great pictures. Also, very nice combination of modern and classical buildings :)

I've only been to the bad parts of Chicago, you make me want to revisit and see all the cool things I missed out on. Thanks for taking you time to show us

So awesome! Love these shots!

 7 years ago  Reveal Comment

Very enjoyable post. I wish I could go to Chicago but is it safe to go there, I hear the crime is bad?

I hear the same, but the downtown area seemed just as safe as any other big city!

very beautiful pictures and thank you for posting

resteem and upvote for your post....

Nice pictures - followed, voted.... ah yeah and too for witness ;-)
Great job!

I never know that Chicago has this deep art culture. Thanks for sharing it has lots of information and very entertaining too.
My wild guess who are you in "the Bean" is the guy with red shirt, he is the most prominent out of all the people there maybe because of the color red shirt he's wearing

Very nice!
Chicago Cultural Center is amazing!

Cloud Gate it is cool! :)
Thank you for the photo!

Love this series! Follow me for more from the art world.


Oh waw! I often see the object-obejk that is in the picture in the movies. Often thought of wanting to visit it, but now I will be there. Nice pict


nice work. upvote dan following you

Stunning photos! I'll be honest I had no idea Chicago was such a beautiful place. Upvoted!

i really love the ceilings of the cultural center, is so beautiful and the mirrow bean too. great work

wow amazing and marvelous
you have very beutiful picture,
follow back

Thanks for the sharing photos I felt like I was in Chicago ;)

Yup @anyx I think you are the very looong person that stretches along the bottom of the picture. The inside walls of the cultural center look amazing.

Great photos! I have never been in Chicago but I really would ike to go there! I got a cousin living in this stunning city.

the 2nd pic would have nailed an SPC reflection theme

  • love the hanging plants

Oooh, great shots of the cultural center! And look at you with your own tag, good idea. Keep it up I really enjoy your work.

killer shots my friend!

well i voted you for witnesses and come here .
your post is amazing:) follow you

i really want to visit there...i wish someday

هi vote you beacause i'm useful from your article

Lovely Photos!

I've never been to the JP Pavillion. On my next visit to Chicago, I'll be sure to pay this place a visit.

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