Tommy V. of the men’s blog Suits and Boots, formerly Thighs Bigger Than Your Head (TBTYH), and I have a very interesting history, but one I’m happy to say turned out well in the end. The way I found out about Tommy’s blog was through Sitemeter back in early 2011. One day I saw a lot of hits coming in from a Tumblr that I’d never heard of before. I clicked on the link and saw 12 of my most avant-garde photos of men’s fashion with a smart-alecky comment. I totally freaked out and overreacted in the most ridiculous way possible – by threatening to sue for copyright infringement. Once I calmed down I realized he had a really good point. Men’s fashion is subtle. To be honest, before I started to read Tommy’s blog and got to know my friends over at The Midwestyle I didn’t have a clue about men’s fashion (and still don’t really get it, but that’s another topic for another day). Tommy has taught me a lot about men’s fashion, and I always appreciate his honesty and straightforwardness. If you don’t already follow him, you should @TBTYH. And now you know why we joke about suing each other.
I spotted Barbara Bates from the new NBC show Fashion Star walking down Oak Street in front of Hermes. I mean, obviously that’s where I found her. She’s wearing a Prada coat after all! I believe this is the first time I’ve ever photographed a Prada runway piece. Another notch in my street-style photographer belt…
I had the day off this Wednesday – I’m not a bum, I’m a freelancer, but I suppose the two overlap somewhat as far as the daily 9-5 crowd is concerned… or if you ask my parents. I figured I’d put this free time to good use so I met up with my former boss (whom I adore) for lunch. We walked through campus to her favorite restaurant and then back. Just as I was leaving my old building to jump on the El my street-style radar went off. Sure, it was a violently windy day but I knew I could make a photo work. Since I’m rarely in Lincoln Park during the day anymore the stars were already aligned in my favor. I started my blog by photographing DePaul students on my way to and from work at the Lincoln Park campus and class in the Loop. It was quite the synchronicity to run into Iliana again on a rare visit back.
Iliana has been photographed by me not once or twice, but now three times near the Fullerton El stop. Every time I see her she’s impeccably dressed, whether it’s below zero (here) or 80 degrees (here via Refinery29). Chicago needs more people like Iliana – it would make my life a hell of a lot easier. Her collar is from TopShop. I instantly recognized it since I was thisclose to buying it a few weeks ago when I went with my friend Megan, but decided to get goofy socks instead. Yeah, I admit it. I love crazy socks! But now this photo is really making me question my decision not to buy the collar…
One of the cool things about photographing someone over a long period of time is that I get to see how my photography skills continue to improve. I’m almost embarrassed to link to the photo I took of Iliana in November 2010, but I’m actually more proud of how dramatically my skills have improved from practicing almost daily for two years. They say practice makes perfect but I don’t think that’s true with photography. Like any creative pursuit, there’s always room for improvement.
