James Parenti

The name MONADNOCK made in large stone letters is just above the doorway within a stone arch. In a window just above, the reflection of part of another tall, brick building across the street is visible

Monadnock Building entrance #chicago #chicagophotography

A view of a tall building with a worker doing some drywall work on an office floor. Outside, in the distance, Lake Michigan is visible with a soft, pastel sky just before sunrise

Chicago one recent morning #chicago #chicagophotography

A man dressed in a red Santa Claus hat and cap over cold-weather clothing and boots, and sunglasses, plays holiday songs on saxophone on a busy city street among pedestrians at night.

Michigan Avenue #chicago

A metal sculpture of a small, cherubic baby made in a Neo-classical style with a shiny, green patina is seen in front of a small plaza illuminated by bright street lamps with holiday lighting wrapped around them

Giddings Plaza #chicago

A shot of a mostly-empty city street lined with small shops and restaurants on both sides is illuminated by holiday lighting is seen in heavy snowfall

A corner bar & cafe illumninated by street lamps and its own neon lighting in a heavy snow storm

A bar and cafe is seen in the evening during a heavy snowstorm, a snow-covered bike is parked in front. People are seen mingling at the restaurant's bar just inside

A bright-lit Christmas tree sales lot is seen along a city street at night. A man pulls a small child along on a sled along the sidewalk just in front.

Lincoln Avenue during the Snovember winter storm #chicago

This is wonderful!

A brick street in an urban setting that’s been exposed underneath several layers of gravel and concrete all around it. There are construction cones and more torn up street nearby and an elevated train station is seen just behind

They’re redoing part of Western and it’s exposed the earlier brick street that had been hidden underneath #chicago

The weathered, old exterior of a house. A wooden staircase with much of its paint flaked off leaves to a pair of old wooden chairs on its porch. In the foreground a pine tree is seen in front of vines growing up the exterior and across the front window, the leaves changing from green to red fall color

Somewhere in #chicago in November

A view of a river on a warm, fall afternoon with three kayakers making their way along a very smooth water surface. Trees in full fall colored foliage line the riverbanks

A brick wall mural of a pair of very stylized, cartoon figures in an industrial area and up in the upper right there's a sign that says “Food Pick Up”

An outdoor dollhouse that's been decorated with a very Halloween theme is sitting outside along the street with cars and two flats visible in the background

An image of a quiet neighborhood seen in an alley on a fall evening. The trees seen in the distance are changing into fall colored foliage.

People standing and sitting at a busy outdoor festival, dressed in summer attire for a warm day. A woman sits in the foreground interacting with her mobile device.

A woman pulling a red wagon behind her in an urban environment is standing at the middle of a busy intersection looking at her mobile device as cars go by

Group of people at a large outdoor protest. Some are carrying various signs and flags and in the foreground, seem from behind, is a young woman carrying an American flag with the flag turned upside down – generally understood to be a sign of distress

A small brown dog is being pushed around while it sits in a bright pink colored, small stroller amidst a crowd of people

October in Chicago

A nature reserve at a park just before dawn. It is just on the cusp of autumn so the plants and trees visible in the foreground and background have begun to show hints of color change. The sky isn't yet filled with sunlight but is filled with pastel light. A sand path runs from to the foreground through the foliage.

Horner Park this morning #chicago #chicagophotography

A couple wearing bicycling gear is stopped near a bike in the evening. They are standing along a large lakefront with a pair of boats in the background and further off in the distance, many large skyscrapers are seen illuminated by the sunset.

Sunday evening #chicago #photography #chicagophotography

An older building exterior photographed at early evening with a local hot dog stand occupying the first floor which has a colorful assortment of signs advertising its tacos, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, ATM and more. People are seen strolling along the sidewalk in front and just off to the side around the corner are some tables with umbrellas and a yellow hanging sign with a Vienna Beef hot dog logo and the name Jakes

Jake’s #chicago #chicagophotography

View from the water of several tiers of raised concrete walls along a waterfront with swimmers in the water, one in an inter tube. Other people in swimsuits sit along the concrete tiers enjoying bright, sunny weather. some clouds and trees are seen in the background

Concrete Beach, Summer 2025 #chicago #lakemichigan #chicagophotography

My #BikeTheDrive 2025 ride in about a minute and a half. #chicago #cycling

Hundreds of cyclists – adults and children – are riding their bikes in both directions of a tree-lined, multi-lane road in morning sun. In the distance beyond them, the horizon is filled with dozens of skyscrapers of various styles

A man is seen cycling with a white & brown furry dog strapped to his back. The dog is wearing red goggles

A view of a man and child riding their bikes among dozens of other cyclists on a multi-lane highway with no cars on it as they pedal toward a large group of high-rises and skyscrapers

Hundreds of cyclists riding in both directions of a tree-lined, multi-lane divided highway. In the distance are a large skyscrapers of various styles

Some photos from Bike The Drive 2025 🐶🚴‍♂️ #chicago #photography #chicagophotography #cycling #dogs

Underwater view near one of the concrete beaches. It's hard to really give a sense of scale but those rocks are enormous #chicago #lakemichigan

Firefighters near their truck spraying water on elevated train tracks. A group of firefighters is also on top of the tracks

Brown Line near Paulina 6:08pm #chicago

A cyclist in a race passes through shadows amidst other riders as he races under an elevated train track

A group of racing cyclists quickly rounding a corner among a large pack of racers

A side view of a cyclist on a gold-colored racing bike and wearing a mostly-black uniform. He's seen turning among several other racers

A head-on view of a large group of racing cyclists passing under the finish line as a large crowd on either side of the finish line area looks on.

Chicago Grit racing photos #chicago #chicagophotography #cycling

Nice, thanks!

A trio of three cyclists are quickly rounding a corner underneath large elevated train tracks as they race through city streets. They lead a much larger group of racers seen well behind them in the distance.

Chicago Grit Cycling Race through Fulton Market. I wish we had more of these throughout the city. #chicago #chicagophotography

A group of sunbathers and swimmers along a concrete beach in Chicago. It is a bright, sunny day. There are trees at a nature sanctuary visible in the distance

#chicago

A view of the Chicago lakefront. Several people are seen relaxing a long, concrete seawall. In the far distance, the Chicago skyline is visible against early evening clouds and warm light from the sunset

A man is leaning out of his apartment window to watch the parade below. He has decorated his windows with hanging Chicago flag on one and a pride rainbow flag on the other, with pleated rainbow flags along the top of each. In his other window a bubble machine is spraying bubbles out to the street below

A woman in a bright orange, Mexican dance dress with a feather-laden tiara waves a rainbow fan in her face as she dances by.

A man in a blue and black leather animal mask is seen among arms waving as he moves by with several other leather furries

A drag queen with a tiara, long lavender hair and a grey sequined dress sitting on the back of an open convertible is fanning herself with a rainbow-themed fan that says "Rule Your World"

A man carrying a sign that says "Horny 4 Books" is seen next to a woman carrying a sign reading "History makes Me Wet"

A young man in a blue shirt and black sunglasses is using a bubble gun to "shoot" bubbles toward the direction of the camera

A man with streaked blonde hair with a vibrant makeup display that looks something like a cross between clown make-up and a stitched-on child's doll face and wearing a colorful rainbow bandana waves to the crowd.

A woman is seen walking along the edge of the parade fence carrying a sign that says "Free Mom Hugs"

A woman dances down the street while wearing a large Brazilian dance dress with an enormous train of vibrant blue feathers

A man in a shiny white half-top and wearing a white cowboy hat, and wearing a bit of shiny white jewelry on his left cheek waves his hand in the air

A man with a rainbow-colored spiky mohawk hairdo and wearing a jean jacket vest with rock and punk band logo labels on it is carrying a section of a giant American flag as part of a military veterans' group

A drag queen in bright, white makeup with rouge accents and wearing a white blouse with a pink skirt walks by holding a pink, blue and white umbrella to stave off the sun and heat.

As a marching band moves by, a man with a fair complexion and short beard and wearing a white, blue, rainbow-flag color accented uniform is playing a trombone. Each trombone in his section has a different color of the rainbow flag on its handle.

A uniformed Chicago Police officer is seen moving along the parade fence. He has his traditional checkered police cap and light blue uniform on under his kevlar vest, but is also wearing a Pride rainbow flag as a cape. Parade viewers smile at him as he goes by.

Governor JB Pritzker is walking through the crowd and is pointing and smiling at the camera. His wife is seen next to him.

A double-deck bus upper deck is full of men and women in bright, colorful outfits singing and dancing and waving an assortment pride flags, colorful tassels and pom-poms

Some photos from Pride Parade 2025 #chicago #chicagophotography

I’m sure you’ll catch a lot of the well-known work just by walking through the main/older wing. It’s all easy to find. Somewhat of a hidden but fun exhibit is the miniatures room on the lower level of the older part of the building (at the Michigan Ave. side)

A group of 5 swimmers in water near a wall structure face toward the rising sun over Lake Michigan, which has just broken over the horizon and reflects over the calm waves. One of the city's water intake cribs is seen miles off in the distance along the horizon

Morning swimmers #chicago #chicagophotography

Picture of kids and adults gathering on Lincoln Square, playing jump rope. Text overlay saying "I will never understand the appeal of playing in a street"

Picture of Chicagoans of all ages lounging on Lincoln square, enjoying a beautiful spring day. The sun is out and there is chalk art covering the ground. In the foreground a man in sunglasses sits on a yellow bench. Text from a local facebook group reads "It's really unfortunate that they feel the need to create this kind of chaos for the community, our square, and the small businesses trying to thrive here, this feels like a targeted effort."

a man blows bubbles for a group of children playing in Lincoln Square, the kids are jumping and pointing at the bubbles. many adults are circled around watching. A quote from the Lincoln Square facebook page reads "FORGET ABOUT IT. Ban kids from playing in the street."

A wide shot of Lincoln Square. People are congregating in the road, lined up to patronize local businesses, or sitting on the curb watching neighbors stroll by. A truncated facebook comment states "how dare you... People like you in this community absolutely disgust me."

Lincoln Square Road Closure and Accompanying Comments From The Local Facebook Page (April 2025)