[ Articles of Faith ] Storefront churches on Chicago’s south and west sides.
I first became familiar with Dave’s work in Marktown
Churches are typically considered open, public spaces, but African-American storefront churches are by their very nature a more private way of practicing one’s faith. In contrast to larger congregations, these churches, which dot the south and west neighborhoods of Chicago, are more like tightly knit family circles. Individualistic and sometimes bordering on the eccentric, members seek out these churches which cater to their specific wants and needs.
Thomas Photography
[ Marktown Historic District ]
Marktown is a unique industrial workers village in East Chicago designed by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1917 for the industrialist Clayton Mark. The design of Marktown is based on Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City concept, and although this is an industrial community surrounded by heavy industry (Oil Refineries and Steel Mills), the original intent was to provide some buffering between industry and housing. The site was also to include a market square similar to Lake Forest Illinois (also a Howard Van Doren Shaw design). With the breakout of WWI and other factors Marktown was never completed. What remains is a fragment of a community abused by the continued encroachment of industry.
The challenges for Marktown are great. Yet, it is amazing that it is as well maintained as it is with no formal protection.
Market Square (since destroyed to make room for a utility substation and an industrial access road)
Like many 19th century Urban Planner’s Ebenezer Howard had a penchant for developing conceptual diagrams for organizing a community. I love this diagram which he titles “Group of Slumless Smokeless Cities - Total Area 6,000 Acres - Population 250,000.”
Demographics:
Population: 362
- Hispanic Pop.: 253
- Black pop.: 16
- American Indian: 10
- Asian: 6
Per Capita Income (CT 304): $10,306
Median Family Income (CT 304): $27,404
Total Housing Units: 137
- Vacancy Rate: 28%
- Medium Home Value (2000): $20,500
Photo Gallery by Dave Jordano
Thomas East Chicago, Photography, What I am Looking at
New Street Agenda (2005 - present)
Who - What - Where - When Do We Start Fighting… (Journalistic Street Art and Advertising)
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| Chester Alamo & Costello holding a “When Do We Start Fighting…” drop-off print, Near Albert Dock, Liverpool, England, December 15, 2007 |
Sandy Kaminska Costello holding a “When Do We Start Fighting…” drop-off print, Regent’s Park, Frieze Art Fair, London, England, October 12, 2007 |
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| Jesse Bercowetz holding a “When Do We Start Fighting…” drop-off print, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, March 29, 2008 |
Jeff Costello holding a “When Do We Start Fighting…” drop-off print, Near Grand Central Station, New York, New York, March 28, 2008 |
Thomas Multi-media, Photography, What I am Looking at
In the past week this curious curated post of photos from Bouncing Red Ball have been receiving a lot attention. Their is something to be said about the clean identity of these photos as Japanese Factories at this particular time, but I am going to wait on that commentary. This entices me to draw comparisons with the facilities in East Chicago.
Lately, I’m having a “factory fetish”, (or “k?j? moe” as they say in Japanese) after browsing through some fascinating pictures of factories in flickr, especially those of sielbleu, hanazuc, totoon and beef.200%. The photographers kindly let me reproduce their photos here.
There is something fascinating about factories at night: the surreal colors, the dazzling lights, smoke billowing through the night air, the almost audible sound of a busy industrial complex. The photos themselves conjure up images of some strange, enormous, metallic creatures of the night on an alien landscape.
Bouncing Red Ball » 12 fantastic photos of factories in Japan
Valentine Photos of Factory Outside My Window
Small Comparison
02-14-09 10:00 am
02-14-09 5pm
Thomas East Chicago, Photography, View Outside My Window
At the moment I can’t remember who the photographer is or where I found these images. When I do find them I will add a link.
What I like about these images is the massing of movement creating a “horde” of people. This massing is contrary to what is expected in a time-lapse photo. This photographer has exposed his film to record a movement of people not unlike how the worn concrete steps may leave evidence of the same movement. You can say it is evidence of a pattern of activity and statistically relevant.
Thomas Photography
The Siege of Leningrad: Then & Now
Here are some fascinating photos of the siege of Leningrad during WWII (from September 9, 1941, to January 27, 1944) from English Russia. It is not a new technique to take historical images and photoshop them into contemporary settings, respecting the place and point of view, nor are these exceptional images. But it is another reminder of how we, in essence, continue to rewire the earth with our identities - our culture. New eyes see what’s seen, and old eyes sometime miss the seen for unseen parts of the past, that may or may not have been seen by another. They all live stack atop each other everywhere. Memory is tied to location. Whether a memory has a name or a place can be the result of an incomprehensible accident or the intentional loading of location with memory - a monument. Otherwise they remain unnamed.
Two similar examples:
- In Downtown Chicago, just south of the river on Michigan avenue pedestrians are reminded in their daily commute to and from work of the historic use and identity of the place they are transversing by a brass outline embedded into the concrete sidewalk of Fort Dearborn.
- Nearly every college student who goes away to college and returns home on holiday are amazed by the pace of change in their home community. This goes for most adults who have left their childhood community over an extended period of time to return to a new place.
For myself, I have a physical response to this kind of change in the environment. I truly feel a change in my body in response every time I drive through the streets of the South Loop development area.
Thomas Photography
