I want to capture Chicago through pictures and drawings of what the population of the city views Chicago as. I’ll be collecting stories or snippets from individuals on what Chicago means to them. Whether that be a place, a certain type of food, or even the Bean. I think this is important to document because it captures the city in a different way than a normal book would. As someone who has grown up in Chicago, I want to know more about the city I live in, and what better way to do that then to ask its populous. I grew up on the North side of Chicago, Uptown to be exact, and live only about twenty minutes from the city. If I could combine pictures as well as quotes, I think this would give the reader a better idea of what Chicago is like. 

I’d like to start off by creating a survey to send out to the general public. I’m working on questions for the survey currently. Some essential information I’d like to have would be age, the neighborhood they grew up in, and if they were born and raised in Chicago. The most essential question I want to add is, “What is Chicago to you”, or, “What does Chicago mean to you”; I think this is open ended enough for them to answer however they want. I don’t want to make questions too specific because I want people to give their own answers without them feeling restricted. In terms of how I’ll execute photographs or even drawings, I want to split it down the middle in terms of substance. I don’t want a majority of the book to be photographs and just a few drawings. I think if I could manage taking a photo, chopping it in half and filling in the rest with my style of drawing, I think I could make something truly unique.

I think a lot of this project will be completed the following year. Currently on October 2, 2020, amidst the Coronavirus pandemic as well as an upcoming presidential election, I’m doubtful many people would be willing to fill out a survey. This means I need to go out and get photographing spots in Chicago that might come up. This would cut my workload down, if I were to cross some pictures off the list beforehand. I want to get a survey I would be confident sending out by December this year at the latest. I would send the survey out after Christmas ideally. Come January and February I want to go out and take the pictures from the responses on the survey. I’m overshooting the times for the dates, knowing me I’ll be eager to get started on the project early as to not feel too overwhelmed later in the spring semester. I want to finish the project around early April, still having enough time to put the actual book together into one completed look.  

Ultimately, I want to gain a new perspective on what Chicago is. I’d also like to share this information with the public to broaden their horizons and hear other people’s stories. My view of Chicago, while being amazing, is very narrow! I have only had certain experiences that have shaped how I see Chicago. I would love to get at least one hundred reviews to my survey. Ultimately, I want three times that amount, but I would be happy with at least one hundred. I know this project will require a lot of work on my part; creating a survey, going out and capturing the city in various locations. During the Coronavirus pandemic, this will prove interesting.