In the early 2000's I began to see an accelerated gentrification process in Chicago leveling historically significant structures in and around my neighborhood. It felt like I was watching Chicago's Architectural history being squandered on a daily basis. Before long I became overwhelmed, feeling a personal obligation to photographically record this ever so important history, with the hope to Capture our adored yet endangered structures before it was too late. After reaching to the City and other organizations that served as gatekeepers for a handful of desired destinations, it became abundantly clear that in a post 911 world, even with the best of intentions in place, I would largely never be allowed to gain access to our fleeting history, to preserve it for future generations. I had to make the decision, to either give up and leave our shuttered architecture unspoken for, or move forward with an unshakable faith that I was taking part in something much bigger than myself, to indeed gain access to our inaccessible architectural history, by any means necessary.
Working with natural light and prolonged exposure, composing images completely at the time of exposure without later manipulating the photo with digital applications, I’ve worked to capture images that offer to the viewer an almost firsthand look into several hundred of Chicagoland's most eerily beautiful Abandoned/Slated for Demolition venues over the years.
In making that initial decision in 2004 to step forward, I walked alone into the darkness looking to shed light on our history. In doing so, I was blinded by the photographic information discovered and I’m truly humbled by my offered experience/s.
In the early 2000's I began to see an accelerated gentrification process in Chicago leveling historically significant structures in and around my neighborhood. It felt like I was watching Chicago's Architectural history being squandered on a daily basis. Before long I became overwhelmed, feeling a personal obligation to photographically record this ever so important history, with the hope to Capture our adored yet endangered structures before it was too late. After reaching to the City and other organizations that served as gatekeepers for a handful of desired destinations, it became abundantly clear that in a post 911 world, even with the best of intentions in place, I would largely never be allowed to gain access to our fleeting history, to preserve it for future generations. I had to make the decision, to either give up and leave our shuttered architecture unspoken for, or move forward with an unshakable faith that I was taking part in something much bigger than myself, to indeed gain access to our inaccessible architectural history, by any means necessary. 
Working with natural light and prolonged exposure, composing images completely at the time of exposure without later manipulating the photo with digital applications, I’ve worked to capture images that offer to the viewer an almost firsthand look into several hundred of Chicagoland's most eerily beautiful Abandoned/Slated for Demolition venues over the years.
In making that initial decision in 2004 to step forward, I walked alone into the darkness looking to shed light on our history. In doing so, I was blinded by the photographic information discovered and I’m truly humbled by my offered experience/s. 
