Photo Art Direction
As the Chicago Reader’s Director of Photography, I created photography and videography, for Chicago's venerable alt-weekly. My role involved ideating, art directing, and producing covers and feature packages for the weekly tabloid. From location scouting, to story research, to set design, I managed both photojournalistic and highly produced shoots that included Best of Chicago 2019, The Trials of Chicago's Flashiest Defense Attorney (winner of an AAN award) and Icing Racism cover (story was part of Notable Sports Writing of 2018 section of The Best American Sports Writing 2019 anthology). The Reader was honored with Peter Lisagor honors for Best Photography every year of my tenure there.
Chicago’s Taco Game is Strong
I directed, edited and photographed this cover and two-page spread. Stylized with bold colors, lighting and directional elements, the design was meant to communicate the joy of exploring new(ish) taquerias on the city’s north side, through a multi-stop “taco crawl.”
Photography and Art Direction: Jamie Ramsay
Story:Mike Sula
Hand Model: Yohance Lacour
2019 Best of Chicago Issue
This Issue involved a significant amount of planning and secrecy over about 6 weeks. Each year, this issue reveals “Bests” in 300+ categories ranging from culture to entertainment. I coordinated the photography of items representing the select winners without any nominees getting tipped off. All shots had to be completed 2 weeks ahead of publication to meet the print issue deadline.
It was important that the entire city’s contributions be represented in the imagery, from west to east and south to north. Since the CTA train lines physically cover that ground, I used those colors in the design scheme starting point of each of the 6 category headings.
We tried to fit as much Chicago as we could into each shot: a variety of neighborhoods, people, and businesses that make up a diverse Chicago. The entire Reader staff pulled together, raided closets, drove all over, and provided items, pets, and even volunteered themselves to model.
Art Direction: Jamie Ramsay
Photography: Lisa Predko
Assisting: Brian Gladkowski
Retouching: Sarah Crump
