keith b. evans photography

seattle:

2010-10-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is a long overdue group of photographs from an early summer trip to Seattle. My first visit to Seattle in fact. We only spent a short day & 1/2 there, but I did have a nice morning walk with my camera. I was met with a not-so-surprising overcast light, but this was what I was looking forward to from the northwest. I feel like there are different opportunities to discover details & colors that you normally wouldn't see the same on a sunny day. Well, this was my challenge & I'm happy with what I discovered that morning.

The following afternoon the clouds broke & we did get to enjoy a more sunny Seattle before we left for the mountains later that day.

green:

2010-07-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

One thing I always love about the northwest is all the different shades of greens. I had a few opportunities to immerse myself in all the color a few weeks back. It doesn't matter if it's sunny or rainy; the green there is vibrant in so many ways.

at night:

2010-02-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

I don't know exactly why it is, but I haven't really done much night photography in Chicago. When I lived in LA I ventured out at night pretty frequently. This last Friday I met up with the Chicago Flickr Meet-up for a special night photography session featuring advice from David Schallol (an editor from Gaper's Block & photographer of the Isolated Building Series). I only shot a few images that night, but I really enjoyed the results. I really want to get out more at night in the future.

new depth:

2009-11-25T08:30:00.000-08:00

After a few consecutive posts of older photos I want to show you a little selection of new work. Now that my show is over I have been thinking about loosening up & discovering some new things. I have had some ideas running through my head, but I was in desperate need of getting back out there & taking more pictures. Here are a few new images from recent walks in the Loop area.

photographic collage:

2009-11-19T11:40:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of these David Hockney style photographic collages from my college years. These are some of my favorites. You can see more on my website here.

lyric theatre:

2009-11-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

I took these photos back in the fall of 2000; right about the time I started taking photography seriously. The historic Lyric Theatre in my hometown of Lexington, Ky closed its doors in 1963. Before this, the Lyric hosted entertainers such as Count Basie & his Orchestra, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald & Redd Foxx. There was some small scale restoration under way at the time I took these photos. I met the workers & they were kind enough to let me photograph the building three separate times. I recall that they were attempting to restore the building to have church services, but I may be wrong.

Some of these photos were exhibited in my first solo photography show documenting the changing face of Lexington, KY in an economy that was, at the time, gaining momentum.

I have heard that a new project for renovation of the Lyric is under way. This is exciting news & well deserved for the surrounding Martin Luther King Neighborhood (where I lived during college).

success!

2009-10-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who came out Friday night to my first solo photography show in Chicago. I was really impressed with the turnout; so glad to be able to share my work with you all. If you were not able to make it I have posted the catalogue of the show on my photography website here. All of the photos are available for purchase & you can contact me via email <>

A big thank you to Dee Clements of Simple Gallery for all her hard work finding a space & coordinating everything to make this show happen. Another big thank you to Michelle Geoga for donating her photography studio & transforming it into a real & very nice gallery space.

Note: The first two photos above are by Michelle Geoga.

unreleased backgrounds

2009-10-13T09:30:00.000-07:00

“Unreleased Backgrounds” is a selection of urban views: the subtle & not-so-subtle relationships we encounter daily. I want to reveal the complexity of our everyday surroundings by exposing what is overlooked. These are portraits of places and objects that would otherwise play a supporting role to the life & landscape around us.

At first glance, something might seem slightly out of place or forgotten. There are dynamic moments where the city’s density takes over; adjustments have been made and unlikely elements are forced to occupy the same space. There’s a beauty in the way that changes are fabricated to accommodate certain situations. This nature of incessant change is what I seek to capture with these images.

Please join us at Michelle Geoga Photography Studio Friday, October 23rd from 6-9pm.

2846 W. North Ave.

Second floor

Chicago IL.

*Enter at side door on Francisco.

Impossible Project:

2009-10-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

In honor of the recent news by Polaroid & the wonderful effort of The Impossible Project I have decided to post some of my favorite polaroid photo. I'll be soon polishing up my SX-70 to pick up where I left off.

* Thank you Cortney for the news tip.

chicago architecture tour:

2009-08-21T09:16:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago my family was in town (my parents' first time in Chicago) so I showed them around & I took another look at some of the great examples of Chicago architecture. We mostly walked around, but we also took a boat tour & visited the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. My dad really loved Millennium Park (which I am appreciating more & more each time I see it) where we got to see the new Burnham Pavilions & a performance by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion band-shell. Naturally, I took the opportunity to take more photos of Chicago architecture along the way.

four facades:

2009-07-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

I've gathered a little collection of building facades that are somewhat ambiguous because of their size, context, or state. I thought I'd have a little fun & maybe discover some new typologies.

Beginning with a reflection of classical stone columns & decoration in the ultra modern Mies van der Rohe Post office in Chicago. You can see a real life overlay of the similarities in proportional layout between the two facades; as if borrowing logic from one-another.
Another overlay of dueling context can be seen in the shadows of gables & trees cast on the concrete block wall mass of a storage building. This would suggest a memory (or ghost) of a neighborhood scale of what used to be, prior to the existence of this big box.
In an effort to reduce the effect of this building's massive scale the architect chose a plaid facade.
Caught in the middle of the application of this building's space-age vapor barrier, it's facade becomes sterile - lacking any proportion or accessibility. What will this be?

melted vinyl

2009-07-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

I see this from time to time; gross melted vinyl siding from some nearby grill being too hot or a neighboring fire. I have had a little vinyl fetish lately, but in a super boring way. I hate the material personally, but it is interesting how it is transformed when pushed around by a little heat.

bloomingdale line

2009-07-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

Unique views from an abandoned elevated rail line in Chicago. I love how it appears that some of these buildings are growing out of the weeds in the foreground. There is an ongoing conversation to make the Bloomingdale Line into a jogging trail / linear park, much like the High Line in Hell's kitchen in NYC which officially opened last month. The elevated tracks run just a block away from my apartment & there is an access point just a few more blocks away. Too bad I've only been up there twice, maybe I should take more morning walks.

carnival packs

2009-07-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have always been interested in the way carnival rides get packed away into trailers & transported to the next town or fair. These crazy little structures are really efficient once folded & stacked. Last summer I took a few photos of a night fair in a Chicago neighborhood so I was excited to see some of the same rides a few weeks ago scattered across Humboldt Park, still packed up waiting to be assembled for the big night.

storefront:

2009-05-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

Continuing the theme of the last two entries, I've decided to add this recent photo of large letters arranged behind an empty car dealership's storefront window on N. Western Ave. Today has been full of announcements, by Chrysler & GM, of the closure of car dealerships across Chicago & the rest of the country. One Chicago dealership that has been family owned since 1926 heard the bad news yesterday.

In recent years car dealerships that lined Chicago's north south corridors such as Ashland, Western & Cicero Avenues have been disappearing leaving behind an empty lot or becoming the site for a haphazardly constructed condo building.

paris storefronts:

2009-05-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more Paris storefronts from last year; inspired by the mirrors image in the previous post.

paris mirrors:

2009-05-11T09:28:00.000-07:00

I took this photo back in May of 2001. Paris is so very photogenic it's sometimes too easy to find great images. I believe this place is mostly responsible for the beginnings of my love of photography. Today's lunch (camembert on rye with mustard) reminded me so much of my time there studying in college as well as other visits since then. Paris was my first love & the high standard for which all other cities I've lived are unjustly compared.

precast:

2009-05-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

I came across this construction site this last winter when there was about a foot of snow on the ground. The precast concrete walls, the snow & the overcast sky were all somewhat monochromatic that day. Usually I have trouble on overcast days, but I had a good time tromping (in my new snow boots) around the site in the snow; composing view after view. By now this has become a busy warehouse in an industrial district of Chicago, but I caught it at a moment of quiet texture & rhythm.

Side note: Is it odd to see photos of winter when it is no longer winter? Sometimes I feel that the long cold Chicago winters should be forgotten when it's finally warm outside.

tire bundles:

2009-04-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

I recently revisited the automobile tire recycling plant next to the Finkl & Sons steel foundry (the only steel foundry left in Chicago) just north of Goose Island. This was the location of one of my favorite photos of the stacked tires. This time I found stacks & bundles of different parts of the tires placed in a small lot after they have been separated in the factory; waiting to be shipped away somewhere.

WaMu:

2009-04-27T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of west coast banks. I had a CalFed account until it was taken over by CitiBank. When Washington Mutual came to Chicago I switched my business to them. WaMu had an unorthodox business model (they cared about their customers' needs) & their bank lobby layout was more friendly than the normal model. The teller would stand at one of six or so teller podiums where the transactions would take place. If you were making a withdrawal you would go to a cash kiosk when you were finished; enter a code given to you by the teller & your cash would be dispensed. The tellers did not handle cash, which felt safe to me. Your transactions were face to face & the low traffic was very convenient.

WaMu was recently been taken over by Chase; whose business model is very different. It seems they want the most of everything - whatever that means. The transition of the WaMu customers to Chase accounts has not been smooth & is not been completed for some reason. The WaMu branches have been closed & the former WaMu customers can only make transactions at only a few of the hundreds of Chase locations and only at a special window (plus they cannot make deposits thru an ATM anywhere). I have felt somewhat like a refugee in this experience. I'm currently shopping around for another bank - which is difficult these days.

white on white:

2009-04-15T08:51:00.000-07:00

This has been a recurring theme in my Chicago photographs. Back in college we had an assignment similar to this theme. I remember that I was somewhat unsuccessful back then. Maybe because it was one of the first assignments and it was B&W film. It seems that I keep remembering that assignment while out taking photographs. I do think that the white on white theme works for color as well.

food product packaging:

2009-04-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

More images from my Supermarket Prototype research (spring 2001). Sometimes the packaging will feature the product itself. The color, texture, or repetition may help impulse a purchase. The shape of the product in its packaging may be more recognizable than the brand itself.

grocery store composites:

2009-04-07T08:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to re-post the grocery store images from earlier. I did some more work and added an additional image. The following composite images were taken in the spring of 2001 while researching my final architecture studio project - Supermarket Prototype. I sought to capture the full layout of the wide variety of choices for similar products to be perceived in one view. The shapes of the containers are relatively the same, but the individuality (branding) is found in the colors and graphics of the packaging. I chose three subjects common to the supermarket experience: cans, lunch meats, & frozen fish.

tribute:

2009-03-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

I took this photo about 1 or 2 years ago. It was below zero. I think this may be some sort of tribute.

Paper Crane: Keith B. Evans

2009-03-18T17:15:00.000-07:00

Paper Crane: Keith B. Evans

Dee Clements of Simple gallery has written a few words about my photography on her Paper Crane blog. Thank you Dee.

small buildings:

2009-03-18T08:12:00.001-07:00

trash:

2009-03-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

When the snow begins to melt towards the end of the winter, there is so much trash left over in the empty lots, gutters, & trees. Perhaps people are too cold to think about throwing something away or recycling. What's left are accumulations of worn out plastic & paper that have been stripped entirely of their brand identity. The shapes are somewhat recognizable as to which product they contained.

new photos:

2009-03-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

starting out:

2009-03-12T08:53:00.000-07:00

I've been photographing seriously for just over 10 years. I got a used camera from my dad for Christmas while I was in college to photograph my architecture models & drawings. My dad was smart by making sure the camera was a different brand than the one he used so I could not "borrow" his lenses. My interest was secured during my study abroad in Europe in 1998. It was not hard falling in love with photography with the subject of Europe. Not long after, my grandfather gave me his old twin lens reflex camera that he used to take photos of my dad growing up. I was delighted to find that the camera still worked and even more delighted to discover what I could compose with the square format that the camera photographed. I feel most comfortable with square & I've stuck with it ever since.

I am interested in the leftover spaces; the transition between two or more planned or unplanned objects. Sometimes this is prescribed and sometimes it is accidental or overlooked. I see a beauty in the unforeseen relationships.