Art Institute Chicago Staircase Black and White Architectural Photography
A Sweeping Staircase Crosses Tall Windows and Reflected Light
Inside the Art Institute of Chicago, this staircase made me stop and study the room before taking a photograph. It sweeps from the lower left toward the upper right, crossing a tall wall of glass that reveals buildings outside. I waited for the space to empty so the stairs and window grid could carry the composition. The curve gave the room a sense of movement even with nobody passing through it.
The lower flight begins close to the floor, with pale railings repeating along its edge. Higher up, the underside becomes a broad dark shape against the brighter windows. A curved section of ceiling at the left echoes part of that form without matching it exactly. Beyond the glass, nearby facades and a more distant tower place the interior within Chicago. The floor reflects the window light in a soft vertical band, and its rectangular surface pattern adds another quieter rhythm beneath the stairs.
Black and white brings the architecture together through subtle differences in tone. The railings remain light and fine, the underside of the staircase is substantial and dark, and the window grid stays sharply defined behind both. I made this photograph in 2024, taking time with the empty room and its changing relationships of shape and light. What I like is how the stairs connect the different parts of the view: the floor below, the open room, and the city beyond the glass. It is an interior built around a single strong curve and many smaller straight lines.
© Dan Kosmayer, 2024
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About My Fine Art Photography
Every photograph in my collection comes from my own travels, explorations, and years behind the camera.
I create my work as photographic art rather than mass-produced decoration. From street portraits and abandoned places to landscapes, architecture, and the unusual subjects I discover along the way, each image begins with something that made me stop and look.
My photographs are available in multiple sizes so the same image can work in anything from an intimate wall space to a large statement installation.
