chi-town

My camera buying trip to Chicago was a success! I will be the happy owner of an exciting camera on Friday - just as soon as the UPS driver pulls up.

My day in the windy city was fun. I spent a lot of time hanging out in Millineum Park being mesmerized by "Cloud Gate", the public sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is lovingly referred to as "The Bean" because of its shape. It's made of 168 stainless steel plates that are all welded together. The highly polished exterior has no visible seams. It is 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet and weighs 110 tons! Kapoor's design was inspired by liquid mercury, and its surface reflects and distorts Chicago's beautiful skyline. You can walk around and under its 12-foot high arch. Everyone, including me, was taking pictures of themselves in the mirrored reflections. It's a pretty wonderful piece of sculpture, and watching people interact with it was most entertaining.








On the underside is the "omphalos" (Greek for "navel"), a concave chamber that warps and multiplies reflections.




I had to ask someone to take my "jump" photograph. The very determined young woman finally got it on the sixth attempt.




I also took in the Vivian Maier exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center. I was not nearly as impressed with the prints as I have been with the images I've seen online, but I'm glad I saw the show nonetheless. My favorite part of the experience was that I was near and could hear the conversation of two elderly women as they viewed the show. As we made our way around the exhibition space, I could overhear them discussing what they saw in the pictures. They reveled in memories of Chicago circa 1950. At one point they talked about the fact that Maier was a nanny and a loner. They were quick to add, at this point, that "she sure must have had a nice camera, though."

Which brings me back to my exciting camera. Just because someone has groovy gourmet pots and pans, it doesn't mean they can cook up a fantastic meal. You know where I'm going with this.

It will still be up to me to bring my heart, soul and voice to this wonderful, marvelous piece of photographic equipment that is winging its way to me.

I can hardly wait to start trying.