First Photography Lesson-Pilsen, Chicago

01/14/2014 - Pilsen, Chicago

Hi! Welcome to my very first blog!  I am super excited to embark on this new journey of photography and decided to start a blog to document my adventures. I am new to this "blogging" thing so if you have any comments or advice for me, please feel free to comment back.

To begin, I always loved taking photos. I met Ernesto Cuevas about 2 years ago, and he really got me interested in the ART of the whole photography thing. So here we are present day. I am enrolled in photography school and ready for my first lesson.  Today I'm doing my first assignment for class. The assignment is to take 36 pictures and see what happens every time I change the aperture of the lens.

So here's an idea. Why don't I explore a different neighborhood in Chicago for each of my assignments and see what I can find! This reminds me of a quote that my friend Cassie has on her wall that says:

"The Real Voyage of Discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust

That being said, lets explore my city! Today I will start with Pilsen. The reason I pick Pilsen is first, its right next to my hood, second, its a rich in culture, and third, it has a unique artistic soul. See, Pilsen has some of the best "graffiti" art in  Chicago. I use the word "graffiti" lightly because some may call it by a different name or something other than simply "graffiti." I promise to take the "quotations" off the word in the future. Bottom line, I love graffiti art, lets do it.

Here I am, all bundled up because this is Chicago and baby it's cold outside. (ITS ACTUALLY SNOWING! ) I know, I know, shooting in the snow? Hey, that makes the adventure that much more interesting.




ME!

With my Nikon D7000 in my hand I am ready to shoot. Shoot I forgot! I do not have an 4GB SD card that my teacher said I needed to start the assignment.

Well thank goodness for a Walgreens around every corner of Chicago. Here is the Chinatown Walgreens right in my neighborhood. Notice the Chinese writing on the sign...YUP this IS CHIGAGO :)

Walgreens Pharmacy- 316 West Cermak Chicago IL 60616

"Welcome Dominic's customers" you may ask? Well, last month most of the Chicago land Dominic's supermarkets closed down, so all the prescriptions from their pharmacies got bought out by no other than Walgreens. This is why at my Walgreens we filled over 700 prescriptions yesterday which was a Monday AND by the way we are a non-24 hour store. If you know any pharmacist or pharmacy tech ask to see what that means....PURE CRAZINESS! Anyways, back to our homework. FOCUS Maria.... PHOTOGRAPHY!

So after a short 10 minute drive I arrive in Pilsen, but before I start shooting I need to eat something otherwise I will be too grouchy to even start. As I am driving around the city blocks, this colorful Mexican restaurant catches my eye...Nuevo Leon.



Nuevo Leon Restaurant- 1515 West 18th Street Chicago IL 60608 

I decide to check it out. As soon as I walk in, I notice all the beautiful Mexican art on the wall. Of course I do not take pictures, I save my pictures for important things like FOOD! To my surprise as soon as I sit down they bring me food RIGHT away without me asking. They bring a meatball and a potato. YUP that's right, one savory meatball and one yummy potato, which I devour in two seconds. Then they bring the traditional chips and salsa, but that meatball and potato though... BTW they are delicious! I order huevos Mexicana with rice and beans and its ready and on my table in FIVE minutes! Delicious as well. Here's the best part. The total bill comes out to only $4.58. SCORE! If you are in the Pilsen area check out it out!

Now that I am full,  I can finally start taking photos.  After doing some Google research on Pilsen "graffiti," I find that there is some cool art at the CTA Pink line station on 18th street. Lets start there.

As soon as I step foot into the train station, I am simply amazed by the BEATIFUL ART EVERYWHERE! It is on the stairs and on the walls, everywhere I look, there is art. You should see the excitement on my face right now.

I rush to pull out my camera and the security card at the station stops me. He asks what I was doing. I tell him about my assignment and he apologizes saying that I will not be able to take photos with my Nikon. I could  only use my cell phone. When I ask why, he tells me that it's CTA policy. He also says something about homeland security? Yeah right...Homeland Security I think to myself. Whatever it is, it put a halt on my Nikon photo shooting. I pull out my cell phone and I take some of these photos that you see to the my left and to my right. My favorite is the one on the bottom with the bull and the matador. The matadors fear of  impeding doom is  clearly seen on his face. It was so well crafted.  After about 20 minutes of taking different photos with my cell phone, I go back to the security guard and start asking him questions. I first try to rationalize with him. I tell him that this is a public station, and a free country, and everyone has the right to freedom of speech, and to stop violating my constitutional rights.  

 Well... that doesn't work. He looks at me smiling and he asks for my name and my nationality. When I tell him I am Greek and Puerto Rican, he laughs out loud and says "Aaaaaaa....that's why you are so persistent and stubborn! I was married to a Greek woman for 22 years!" He tells me that his name was Joe and that if it was up to him, he'd let me take as many photos with my Nikon as I want. But it's not up to him. He gives me the CTA customer service line and tells me to ask for permission. I call, leave a message and that's all I can do for now. I look up and there is a Dunkin Donut shop in the station. I ask Joe if he wants a cup of "Joe" He laughs and says "No, thank you."

 

 With my coffee in my hand I feel more relaxed and me and Joe start talking. He tells  me that he is Mexican and he ex wife is Greek. This leads to a two hour long conversation about how both the Greek and Mexican cultures are very similar and enriched with history. He then starts pointing out features on the wall and stair murals of the  "Greek" key and says that the Mayans had their own version. He informs me that the art in the station was done by local high school students back in 1993. He's been at that station since 1988 and still remembers the day like it was yesterday. I find Joe very fascinating.  He turns out to be a real cool dude after all.  He then tells me to go outside and take a look at some of the other art that was painted on the outside of the train station by local street artists.  

 

 The Pilsen neighborhood has been plagued with a lot of gang violence over the years.  This art speaks to the youth of the Chicago letting them know to make smart choices. One of my favorite ones is the girls care-free swinging on  the tree. "We need to work hard to make the world better so stop killing each other, start coming together. But the things you want in life the cars and the bling got you blinded by the fact that it's only a dream"
Lets put our guns down and find peace Chicago.

I go back to the station and talk with Joe about Jeff.  He tells me about the young man that was shot and killed on the streets of Pilsen. Even though Jeff has passed, his positive message about making smart choices still lives on and is spreading among the Chicago youth. Here is a very short Video that I found about JDEF project.

 

 

I say goodbye to Joe and I get back into my car. This homework assignment is probably not happening any time soon. It can wait. I am learning so much about Pilsen that I want to explore more. I decide to head to the Mexican Museum of Art.

 

On the drive way there, I stop and take some pictures of some places that I find interesting.  This  St Adalbert's church. A beautiful Roman Catholic Cathedral.

 

St Adalbert 1650 West 17th Street.

 

I keep driving and notice a little "tienda" (store) selling merchandise outside like its summertime or something. Can't help but think to myself...this is Chicago baby!

 

La Tiendita De San Pio 1800 Block of Paulina

 

As I am driving around, I notice the painting of Guadalupe everywhere in Pilsen. It's painted on walls, bridges, sidewalks, everywhere!  I start wondering about that. Where did it come from? What does it mean?

 

I arrive to the museum and leave my big camera in the car. I have officially decided that this assignment will have to wait till later. There is too much exploring to do here. As soon as I enter the first gallery what do I see?

 

 The Lady of Guadalupe herself is displayed front and center as soon as you enter the gallery. How cool is that? I did a little research and this is what I found.

 

 

So the story goes something like this(Summarized from Wikipedia) On December of 1531, Juan Diego saw an apparition of a little girl in a town near Mexico City who told him to build a church in her honor. Juan Diego recognizes the little girl as the Virgin Mary. He then ran and told  the Bishop who tells him to prove it by asking the little girl to perform a miracle. For the first miracle, she cures Juan's uncle. Then the girl tells Juan to go get flowers from on top of Tepeyac Hill. He runs up the hill and even though its not in season to see flowers, he finds Castilian roses which are NOT even native to Mexico. The little girl puts them in his jacket and he runs back to the Bishop. He opens his jacket, the flowers fall on the floor, and on  his jacket was the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

She has been a symbol of Mexico since then.

 

Well that was pretty interesting huh? First thing that I see in the museum was the Lady herself. I can't ask for much more. In fact, I won't be able to remember much more. This one thing is good enough for me. Not to say that there is not a LOT of cool art to see, but I am getting a little tired and hungry again.  Please stop and check the museum out if you are in Pilsen. It has a lot of art and Mexican history...it's very educational. I browse the Museum quickly and went to the gift shop as my last stop.

I want to buy something for myself to remember this day that I spent in Pilsen. Something that speaks to me on a personal level. Maybe a painting of the Virgin herself since my name is Maria?  Nah....This is what I found...

 

La Sirena! Also known as "The Mermaid"

I've had an obsession with  mermaids ever since I was growing up. I saw the Disney movie and I was hooked. Here's one more to add to my collection and guess what? This one is made of a coconut shell. How clever! Beautiful.

 

This ends my first blog, but don't worry about my assignment it got done! I've had an amazing day of exploration and looking forward to doing it again soon. Check back next week for another one of Maria's Photography Adventures.