Chicago Office Building at Night | Architectural Photography
Illuminated Vertical Lines Across a Downtown Chicago Facade
At night, this Chicago office building became less about the building itself and more about repetition, light and shadow. I moved in tightly on the facade, leaving out the street, roofline and surrounding city so the architecture could take over the entire frame.
The vertical structure immediately caught my attention. Narrow rows of windows rise through the photograph while illuminated sections along the lower facade create a repeating sequence of bright architectural forms. Above them, scattered office lights interrupt the darker grid and give just enough evidence that there is life behind all of this geometry.
I like the way the composition changes as my eye moves upward. Near the bottom, the light is dramatic and directional, carving individual sections out of the darkness. Higher in the frame, the building settles into a much quieter rhythm of windows, stone and shadow. The transition gives the photograph a sense of height without ever showing the complete structure.
Chicago is full of architecture that rewards this kind of close observation. I am often more interested in a fragment of a building than a conventional view of the entire thing. Once the familiar context disappears, functional details can become almost abstract.
For me, this photograph is really about that transformation. A working downtown office building becomes a pattern of vertical lines, illuminated surfaces and deep black spaces, shaped as much by the night as by the architecture itself.
© 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.
