Celebrating in the City
Chicago, that is…

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A Bar at Nico Osteria

Judy and I stayed downtown overnight in the city on the 23rd to celebrate our anniversary. We like having “an excuse” to go downtown and do things in the city…and we try different restaurants and hotels. This time we stayed at the Thompson Hotel on Rush and Bellevue, across from Gibson’s and Hugo’s Frog Bar. It used to be the Sutton Place, but it’s been totally redone. Very nice!  http://www.thompsonhotels.com/hotels/thompson-chicago
So, when we were checking the place out when we got there, Judy “found” this scene and called me over…it looked so photogenic!  Pretty cool…and it got MUCH more crowded later on.

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Andre, our Server

This (above) is our server during breakfast at a fantastic restaurant in the hotel – Nico Osteria (we also ate dinner there…check it out if you get a chance! http://www.nicoosteria.com/ ). Andre is a very nice guy and we had outstanding service. I thought he was photogenic, too, so I asked if I could take a picture. I asked him to pose in a way that would show his tatoos. I enjoy taking photos of people….strangers I encounter out and about.

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Magic Trick, sort of…

Couldn’t leave the restaurant without capturing this magic, balancing act (above). I know I wouldn’t try that! He seemed to have fun with me taking his picture. At first he moved away, but Judy and I encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing.

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Outside the MCA, Chicago

We left after breakfast and walked over to the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA, Chicago) to see the “David Bowie Is” exhibit. http://www2.mcachicago.org/exhibition/david-bowie-is/ The forecast called for 3-7 inches of snow, but it just rained. That frequently makes for good photos! I liked the graphic effect of the stairs, shapes, wall, sign texture, color splash, etc. and the reflections. I imagined it as a high contrast, graphic image and tried to get that across while processing the image.  Hopefully, it makes one’s eye take a visual journey around the scene.

Darn!  No photos allowed inside the display.  I shoulda known….

-Stephen M. Levin
“My Mind’s Eye”
www.stephenmlevinphotos.com

 

SML Photography