2020 - present

A sentiment lost. An invitation retracted. A promise broken. Dreams displaced and deferred.

"Open to the Public" is a long-form photographic exploration of Chicago's West Loop neighborhood, presented lyrically through visual references to funerary themes and iconography. The neighborhood has undergone sweeping waves of demolition and development, ushering in what can only describe as a glacial transformation of its identity. Once a blue-collar area known for meatpacking houses, fish markets, warehouses, and factories, the West Loop has now shifted to fine dining, high-end retail boutiques, hi-rise condominiums and luxury hotels. The disappearing of the American middle class existence is a scene laid bare all over American cities large and small, but in the West Loop, this transformation is particularly pronounced. This is made evident by the rapidly changing skyline, where former brick factories, converted into artist lofts and apartments, are now overshadowed by glass-and-metal-clad luxury high-rises and office buildings.