p h o t o b l o g
The wedding of Matt Mills and Kristen Johnson
Cancer Survivors Garden, Chicago
August 7, 2004
Check out more photoblogs by clicking here

In August 2004 my old college buddy Matt Mills, now an employee for MTV in New York, got married to his post-college girlfriend Kristen Johnson here in Chicago. Starting out the photos is a picture of my summer sexual partner B., who was also my date for the wedding. This was taken on the platform of the Sheridan red-line el stop, in my neighborhood.

The thing I don't think a lot of people realize about Chicago is just how old our elevated-train system actually is, and how over the decades it has organically almost grown itself into the fabric of the city itself. Check out this shot, for example, at the western edge of the Sheridan red-line stop: the tracks have been here for so long now that the vegetation has started to grow into and around it, making a train ride here more like one of those jungle cruises at an amusement park than the typical urban transit experience.

Another shot from the Sheridan el stop, this one sneaking a peek at a trainside garden and urban oasis.

The next three photos are just some random shots I took on the way to the wedding. This shot is of a random alley in the River North neighborhood; Chicago has thousands of little scenes like this, where you feel like you've literally stepped back in time a hundred years when coming across them.

One of the few Victorian buildings left in River North - the neighborhood used to have nothing but mansions, back in the early 1900s when it was first developed, but almost all of them have been torn down over the ensuing decade to make room for the Magnificent Mile, the tourist district and the art-gallery district.

A typical scene on Chicago sidewalks - citizens enjoying a warm evening in the outdoor seating area of a local pub. In this case, the excellent Bar Louie, a local franchise of sorts with bars in five or six different locations throughout the city.

The view from Grant Park's Cancer Survivors Garden, as you enter it from the far northeastern edge.

Next three photos: the wedding! I'd never attended a wedding in Chicago's Loop before, and the effect is stunning - there's nothing like being surrounded by a bunch of skyscrapers for adding a naturally breathtaking vista to the proceedings. For locals who are curious, this park is on Randolph Street, just east of Millennium Park and almost to the lake - it's a kind of hidden location in Grant Park, one that doesn't see much foot traffic, so I imagine like me the existence of this park will come as a surprise to many who live here.

A panoramic shot of the Ballroom of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (Michigan Avenue and Adams Street), where the wedding reception was held.

Next five photos: Some random shots on Michigan Avenue, an area of the Loop frequented mostly by tourists and art-school students (because there's literally not much else to do on that street).

Self-portrait, Washington red-line stop, making my way home and waiting for the train. Good Lord, what's going on with my hair?

photoblog main index