A Promising Dawn
The sky held promise for a colorful Sunday morning. So, I called fellow photographer Scott Fuller to meet me an hour before dawn at Wolf Point, the confluence of the east, north, and south branches of the Chicago River. We anticipated a colorful sky to compliment an “urban canyon” cityscape photo looking down the east branch of the river.
With cityscapes and landscapes, the sky is everything. Without a good sky, pictures are usually disappointing. That’s why you see serious photographers heading indoors with their cameras when it’s “severely clear.”
Like most things in life, plans change. The morning color was almost non-existent. It was time for Plan B.
Delayed by What?
After months of delays, Santiago Calatrava’s new sculpture Constellation had just been completed. Calatrava is a world-renowned architect and artist. If you don’t know Calatrava’s work, here’s his Milwaukee Museum of Art’s Quadracci’s Pavilion.
Source: Milwaukee MOM website
You may recall that Calatrava’s last Chicago project was the canceled 2,000-foot-tall Chicago Spire. The twisting skyscraper would have been the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere if construction hadn’t been halted due to the recession of the late 2000s.
So, why the delays? The Constellation was supposed to be completed in August. Unfortunately, two large rocket fuel tanks for NASA took precedence at the Ohio company fabricating the sculpture. Work on Constellation installation didn’t resume until October.
What’s That?
Luckily, Scott and I were near the Constellation in the 1.5-acre River Point Park in front of the striking 52-story River Point Tower. It’s near the intersection of West Lake Street and North Canal Street.
The sculpture is a breathtaking, vibrant, red vortex design that overlooks the Chicago River’s confluence. This is my shot of the sculpture looking west towards the sculpture in front of River Point Tower.
Sunday morning’s Plan B was the Constellation. Part of the fun of photography is that the eye and the camera see differently. Scott and I spent the next two hours photographing different angles and perspectives. My favorite was this one looking straight up with a wide-angle lens.
Thanks for looking,
Chuck Derus