Chicago Mosaic Project   test mosaic

#ChicagoLandmarks Photomosaic Project

Back in the spring of 2011, I found myself wondering what to do with all of my photos of Chicago. Soon after, I created the #ChicagoLandmarks photo mosaic project (see original post here) as a way of assembling all of my city shots in to one large-scale piece of art. While a growing list of commercial photography projects has caused me to set-aside personal ones, the #ChicagoLandmarks project continues on; though not quite to the extent of my original blog post suggests.

The plan, as originally envisioned, is to capture 5,000-7,000 unique photos to assemble into one giant image of Chicago.  As of  September  2014 I’ve captured about 3,600 photos, so I still have a long way to go. Ideally, I’d love for the end piece to be an enormous 5′x7′ print (that’s in feet!) that I can display for all to see – and in great detail. I don’t have a deadline in sight, all I know is that each photo of the city I capture is one step closer to completing the project.

The photo-mosaic featured above was one I created to test the feasibility of a much more ambitious version.  I built this mosaic for GNP Realty Partners, managers of the Realtor Building, featured in this image. After spending a few months documenting the re-cladding of the Realtor Building, and the re-construction of the Plaza of the Americas for the group, I wanted to do something interesting with the large collection of photos I amassed over the three months I spent visiting the site.  This mosaic consists of 5,000 tiles; however, I only had 900 unique images. Needless to say the photos had to repeat. I think the end result is still pretty impressive, though my #ChicagoLandmarks mosaic should blow this one out of the water!

Check out the below link (which is updated regularly) to see all of the Chicago photos I’ve taken that will eventually make it into the final mosaic.

#ChicagoLandmarks Photo Gallery

P.S. If you have a great/unique/jaw dropping view of the city, hit that contact button on the top of the page and send me an e-mail – I’m always looking for new and interesting angles to shoot from!

-Nick