A foggy Chicago skyline from a day where the storms would not cease. It’s rare that I turn my camera towards the city to capture this particular view. I have noticed, over the years, my resistance to taking photos of the city. I believe this comes from the preponderance of such images. They can become flat and knowable, a sense of wonder utterly lacking.
But in this case, and on this morning, I felt different. On days like this, it’s hard not to. The city becomes something else, the idea of a place perhaps? Lost in fog and barely visible. With this foggy Chicago skyline an entirely new world opens up to you.
Foggy Chicago Skyline
It’s such a different thing to see, gone are the hard edges, the domineering and towering buildings. In their place, a gesture, a shadow and a hint. There was such a sense of wonder and mystery in this morning. The city becoming a vague apparition in the distance, a foggy Chicago allows for you to imagine that you’re in a different time and place. Biking to and from the downtown on this day, I was able to ride in this heavy fog alone, most others having chosen to avoid these weather conditions. It’s often in these inclement weather conditions that I feel most lucky to be working on these Lake Michigan photo projects. There is such a stillness in the air, such a beauty to these days. To bike through a foggy Chicago, early in the morning, to reach the lakes edge is a great pleasure I will never tire of experiencing.
If you would like to see more foggy Chicago photos from along Lake Michigan, you can look to The Shore, an ongoing series of limited edition photographs. Another early foggy day from Lake Michigan can be seen here, on my instagram.