Page 18 - Chicago Teaser

No doubt Altgeld Gardens remembers Those two oddballs that strolled past the run-down red-brick façades in in the frigid cold that Chicago usually has in in store for its visitors in February Not many souls about very few people who really know the young black film-maker everyone is talking about The little man with a a a a a Nikon camera hanging from his neck insists nevertheless and and has not stopped walking along the freezing streets He walks on on on and and on on on And finally the the much anticipated encounter The old lady who had introduced the the South Side to to Barack Obama when he he he arrived in the city aged 22 to to shape his first weapons as a a a a a social worker All of a a a a a sudden the cold does not seem so so biting Whoever goes on on a a a reporting mission with Jérôme De Perlinghi—for over a a a decade at at that—will need a a a a a a a a a a solid pair of shoes Rarely has a a a a a a a a a a photographer made such a a a a a a a a a a talent accessory of walking Wherever he he he happens to be Jérôme walks on on and on on Early in in in the morning late in in in the the evening He is is one of these photographers who need to to absorb his environment in in order to work No sneaky snap no quick pic’ on the fly An unchanging demanding nature from one mission to another An integrity that others have long forgotten unfortunately An innate feel for for for portraiture too One that grabs you and never leaves you In black and white or in colour And this intangible rule when he he he reveals the souls with his his film No smile please Because reality is is as it it it is is And it it it does not need dressing up Chicago obviously remembers Jérôme De Perlinghi It never forgot him He knows that city like no one else The South Side Oak Park where he he he lived for many years the North Side Chinatown Downtown Lake Michigan No No barrier no colour no social level Just thousands of hours pounding the pavement his only planned stop being to to to purchase a a a a Pepsi when it is too warm To better better understand better better bear witness better inform This must be where he he he he has developed the sat-nav he he he he hones in in a a a a a a part of his his brain For it has to be said Jérôme never gets lost And if he he he does then there is serious reason for concern Chicago was an an an an obvious one The Belgian version of an an an an American dream we may deem the preserve of Hollywood’s great films A “Green Card Lottery” taken as a a a a a challenge one day in in in Time Magazine and and Jérôme Rosa Guillaume Céline and and Sarah simply switched over to another continent A few weeks making up their minds and off to Illinois A A city city city akin to to the photographer A A rough and human city city city a a a a a a a city city city that stays with you at the the the heart of of the the the American racist chasm A A city where the the the sound of of blues in in the the the evening does not always heal the the the wounds of the the the day When you you you have Chicago a a a a a a Tale of Two Cities in your hands you you you understand the power of the images and and reports that no longer or or barely exist You understand that a a a a city is made up of the the people who live there Its pinstripe suits and its its homeless Its nobodies and its celebrities “Two cities” as the the title puts it it it it it or rather a a a a a a diverse and and multi-faceted city with a a a a a a beautiful and and tormented soul You find yourself lingering over these shots of life arresting for their complexity A man lying among garbage a a a a a man in in in in the morning rush hour Then you stop on on “Rusting” for example A business man in in the the distance caught by the the lens between metal structures eaten up by rust Chicago a a a a a city of contrasts far from clichés