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Contributed by the Photography Features Group. Get to know us – see below.

Hello and welcome to our second  group edition of the Photography Features! We hope that you have been enjoying our monthly individual photo features. With the River Cruise season officially beginning on April 1, we thought it would be a great idea to feature a collaborative album of some photographs from on or around the Chicago River. As many of you have already been on the river in your parkas, with umbrellas, or bundled up with only your eyes in view, we wanted to remind all of you of the beautiful Spring that awaits us! Beautiful weather is just around the corner! Please enjoy these photographs and feel free to leave some comments.

CLICK HERE FOR THIS MONTH’S PHOTOGRAPHS

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Here’s a snapshot of our photographers.

David Ferguson, Docent class of 2020 (Go Roaring 20’s!) Photography ran in my family.  My father was a professional photographer prior to WWII and worked in the commercial photo finishing industry for his entire career.  He gave me my first ‘real’ camera, a Pentax S1a, for my 14th birthday and helped me set up a basement darkroom.  I consider myself an ‘urban landscape’ photographer, emphasizing the sights of the city. Without current access to a darkroom, my photography is now more limited and exclusively digital, using primarily a Fujifilm X-T2. However, I’m looking forward to pursuing a hybrid approach that modern technology has fostered: film negatives, processed commercially, scanned and edited in a digital suite such as Lightroom and finally, printed on an inkjet or laser printer.

Priscilla Gil, Docent Class of 2019 (Go Bovines!) While I grew up just outside the city of Chicago in a friendly suburb known as Plainfield, I never truly experienced the city until I went off to college at DePaul University. Ever since that moment, the city had my heart. Just as DePaul had a profound effect on where I lived, it also encouraged me to expand my horizons and my study abroad experiences led to a fascination in city and place – what makes a city, how it influences people and vice versa. This propelled me into the world of photography and I made it my mission to attempt to capture a city’s essence, one moment at a time. I primarily photograph cityscapes. To this day, I’m trying to decide whether my love of architecture grew from photography or vice versa. It’s a: Which came first, the chicken or the egg conundrum! In the meantime, I’m a volunteer docent at the CAC and lead two walking tours: Historic Treasures and Walk Through Time. In my day-to-day, I work full-time in marketing. I’ve been dabbling in amateur photography since 2014.

Marisol Kelly, Docent Class of 2015 I enjoy taking pictures with a sincere passion for all things photography and inspiring objects, people and spaces, plus taking photos is a good excuse to get out and explore.

Kelly Manteck, Docent Class of 2020 (Go Roaring 20’s!) I grew up in a suburb of Chicago called Lyons. I began college wanting to become a neurosurgeon, but took a class at DePaul University called Burnham in Chicago which studied The Devil in the White City. I fell in love with architecture and thought I wanted to become an architect, but took a darkroom class and realized that architectural photography was my passion. I graduated from Columbia College Chicago in 2013 with a BFA in Photography. I interned with Geoffrey Baer at WTTW and worked on ‘10 Buildings That Changed America, photographing the Robie House and doing research for the show. One of my Robie House photos is on permanent display in the Chicago Gallery at the CAC, as well as several of them being published in the ‘10 Buildings book. I’ve since completed two Masters of Education and currently teach digital art at Plainfield South High School, as well as being the head bowling coach. I own a business called KAMera Chicago Photography and sell my work. In my spare time, I enjoy hanging out with my dog, aptly named Burnham, leading Must See Chicago and Walk Through Time, and am about to start RC training! 

Tomas Petkus (Guest Services Volunteer since 2020) I began taking pictures seriously in 1966. I quickly became immersed in the art and the craft of the medium. I studied photography at the College of Art and Architecture/UICC and then at the graduate school at the Institute of Design/IIT. I freelanced. I worked in publishing. I taught photography. After I quit teaching I only took pictures for fun until I bought a digital camera.  Free of a darkroom I learned how to use software to process the digital pictures I was taking. Retired, I devote my time to volunteering, curating photography, and documenting life with my camera.

Nancy Schwab, Docent Class of 2011 After retiring as a Speech/ Language Pathologist I became a docent. I really enjoy taking photos in Chicago and wherever I travel. I got the photography bug from my dad.  He was an amateur photographer in several Chicago camera clubs. As a kid I remember watching him work his magic in his darkroom.  Some of his photos won awards and some were donated to the Chicago History Museum and the Illinois – Michigan Canal Archives. Unfortunately I never rose to his expertise. I currently have fun with my iPhone SE.

Robin Simon, Docent Class of 1997 Robin has lived in Chicago since 1987, coming here for grad school and staying. She has her own consulting practice, SimonSez Consulting, doing marketing analytics and forecasting for consumer products companies.  Prior to that Robin worked at Kraft Foods from 1990 until 2002, here in Glenview and on an ex-pat assignment in Toronto.  In addition to being a docent since 1997, she is an active volunteer with the Alzheimer’s Association, Lakeview Pantry and Booth Alumni Nonprofit Consultants. Robin is an amateur photographer and enjoyed her Kodak Instamatic as a kid/teen, and received a 35mm camera with a couple of different lenses as a college graduation present (in 1985).

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