Denice Korcal for The Promised Lives Campaign

Tsubo

I have been getting more and more assignments like this lately... Ryan of Tsubo (a salon located on the near west side). I have been in a bit of a photo funk lately in terms of making photos that really stick with me, but it's always refreshing to meet and photograph friendly creatives like myself, especially when their work spaces consist of soft light and potted plants.

This brings me to...

I updated my portfolio website with some new material, including some more editorial work that I've done for Time Out. The opening gallery is currently a collection of personal portraits... these along with the photographs in the Faraway (So Close) section are the images that really inspire me at the moment. Take some time to visit, and let me know what you think.

Hairdresser on Fire

Pinching Pennies

Bargain shopping in Albany Park with expert store explorer Julie Shapiro. Nothing extraordinary visually, I realize... just trying to dust off my camera and de-rust my idle hands a bit after months of inactivity. I could blame it on a series of unfortunate events that have left me swimming in stress, but I won't. I've just been re-evaluating, and I got a little lazy in the process. Here's to a new year with hopefully more freelance opportunities. Thanks to Time Out for paying me to skip around a dollar store all Saturday afternoon.

Let's Have a Black Celebration

I listened to too much Depeche Mode while editing these photos from Sunday's Northalsted Halloween parade. Also, The Cure. And just in case this blog isn't massive enough for you, a more abundant lot of photos can be viewed here. Thanks to Time Out for assigning me yet another over-the-top Boystown parade to shoot.

Scared of Girls

Wordless Chorus

Unfortunately, tomorrow marks my last day interning at Time Out Chicago. Because I already graduated and therefore they cannot compensate me via college credit, they weren't allowed to keep me on any longer than the summer. I suppose I am pretty lucky in that they made an exception in the first place and let me intern for the summer despite my post-college status.

This internship, though it only lasted two months, was a really rewarding experience for me. Time after time, I was thrown into intimidating situations, and, nervous and scared and "ill-equipped" as I was, I pulled through. I often felt empowered and proud -- most of the time, I was the youngest photographer for the press, and nearly all of the time, I was the only female. I navigated my way around the third largest city in the country to produce images for a well-known weekly publication, and I did it with little prior photojournalistic experience.

So, in summation, I am not saying I deserve a medal for my progress. However, for the past four years, I have witnessed my confidence in this medium sink lower and lower, and, in my final year of college, I too often sought the approval and validation of others to keep me afloat -- to give me a sense of purpose. To make me feel credible. I have not overcome all of my self-doubt (and thankfully, because that means that growth is never ending), but moving to Chicago on a leap of faith (and only a few hundred dollars -- ahh!) was probably the most difficult yet bravest decision I have made in my young life. It feels wonderful to know that I can surprise myself.

Even more wonderful is discovering what you're really made of in the midst of so much darkness.

With all that said, here are some images from My Morning Jacket's performance at the Charter One Pavilion on August 17th. To see a much more generous edit, go here.

But the Stillness Is a Burn

I was dripping with sweat on the dance floor Saturday, two in the morning, packed like a sardine (you can finish the rest of the Radiohead reference), searching for pools of light, straining my eyes to focus my lens, averting my gaze from the fucked up and and lustful... but, you know, despite the awkwardness and difficulty of it all, there isn't much to complain about when you get free access to a Lollapalooza after party, DJed by Jamie from the xx.

Province

Bamboo Worldwide

Pride (In the Name of Love)

Shooting pride for work was a colorful, sweaty, noisy, gushy, glittery, lacy, racy, tasty lovey-dovey experience (with, thankfully, no rain). Simply put, I am honored to have been apart of it... and to have inevitably acquired the awkward sunburn and free condoms.