Chicago Bean Black and White | Chicago Wall Art
Cloud Gate Reflections in Millennium Park
Cloud Gate is one of those subjects that has been photographed endlessly, so when I stood in front of Chicago's famous Bean, I wasn't interested in simply recording what it looked like. I wanted the sculpture and the city behind it to work together.
From this position, the polished surface bends Chicago into an entirely different landscape. Buildings stretch and curve across the steel, the horizon folds inward, and the people scattered through Millennium Park become tiny figures inside the reflection. Behind it, the rigid geometry of the surrounding architecture creates almost the opposite effect—straight lines, repeated windows and hard rectangular forms surrounding this enormous fluid shape.
I photographed the scene in 2011 and chose black and white because it strips away much of the visual noise. What remains is shape, scale, architecture and reflection.
I especially like the small human figures beneath the sculpture. Without them, it would be difficult to appreciate just how substantial Cloud Gate really is. They also keep the photograph rooted in everyday Chicago rather than turning it into a purely architectural study.
For me, the photograph is as much about the city as the sculpture itself: Chicago reflected, distorted and compressed into one remarkable piece of public art.
© Dan Kosmayer, 2011
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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.
