The Windy City

Four Years in America: Two in Jersey, One in Mississippi and now living my fourth and final year here in Elmhurst, Illinois. This small town is only a short train ride west of Chicago. While I'm heavily into my senior year of College, I try to make use of the windy city before I graduate and head back down under to Aus. Chicago is one of the most glamorous cities on planet earth. Its style, colour and artistic nature very much so reminds me of Melbourne. It has such a familiar vibe that every time I get off the train at Ogilvie Transportation Center I feel like I'm getting out in Flinders Street Station back in Melbourne CBD, looking out onto Federation Square.

This was taken during one of my regular explorations around the inner streets of downtown Chicago. I love just wondering around the streets without any time constraints and taking pictures of anything that catches my eye. I took my Polaroid camera with me in order to capture some more permanent exposures for the wall of fame (named thanks to Nick King). After arriving at my desired destination, I found out that it would cost me $12 for a tour to take me to the staircase that I wanted to take a picture of. $12 I was not willing to pay. So I was stuck in Chicago with no plan, and considered just heading home. But I wasn't going to waste the time I had. So on I walked.

The Chicago bean is such a popular tourist attraction, but I tried to turn it into something unique. I wanted to capture the city through the bean. A reversal of sorts. It was no longer the city that contains the bean, it represented the bean that contains the city.

As I walked aimlessly around Chicago, I ran into the Cultural Centre just opposite Millennium Park. This building was full of galleries and artifacts from so many different cultures from around the world. It has turned into one of my favorite building in Chicago. The building itself was old and full of history.

Curiosity is such an amazing thing, and I feel that I am blessed to have such a curious mindset wherever I go. Curiosity is the main reason for me to travel to America in the first place. Some might say it was school or it was for soccer, but all I wanted was to experience new things and see as much as possible. Adopting the camera by my side has only strengthened this desire to see the world, and to appreciate its every little detail. And to be honest, I wouldn't want to be any other way. I hope to travel to every corner of the earth and see as much as possible before its my time to depart.