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“Looking Up” – Historic Bay Windows in Chicago
January 21st, 2026
bay windows
Tagged: brick
Each time that I explore a new area of Chicago, new details come to life. I’ve noticed that many of the historic buildings around Chicago have these bay windows often similar in style to the “Chicago Window” on them; but as I walked between the Fisher and Monadnock Buildings and then looked down the street, I noticed that this small area had many different examples of these historic bay windows on tall, early skyscrapers.
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Equally interesting are the exterior fire escapes on many of the older buildings. I know that there fire escapes will lend themselves to great photos, but I’m still searching for those images.
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Parking garages offer unique views of Chicago, so anytime that I park in a garage, I walk down the staircase. On my way to visit a client, I saw spotted this puddle’s reflection and in my mind, I wandered off to what I could create with just a boring staircase.
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There are certain architectural elements that lend themselves to odd, abstract photographs, but in some instances, you must create the abstract image. As I walked around ECC some images just made sense – the concrete ceiling under the elevated walkway and the outdoor metal staircase. But the staircase’s metal railing and marbled look, I knew there was a photo; but as long as it was right side up, it just looked like stairs…
Once you start looking around ECC, you’ll find many beautiful scenes to photograph, and since the campus has been built over decades, there are many different architectural styles to take advantage of.
Oh my, and to look inside that mountain outcrop? What a wonderful spectacle of lines, shadows, and shapes! This is definitely some kind of 3D TicTacToe game that I’m not aware of!
I’ve always loved these kinds of architectural elements; the abstract corners jutting out from a building. ECC seems to have a few of these; staircases that are not in the core of the building, but on the outside hanging onto the building, and in this case the blue pillar makes this element even more impactful.
Searching for abstract architecture photos is a little more conducive to conversation than many other types of walk-about photography. As we walked along, my daughter and I talked about talents, skills, careers, colleges, and life in general. Being a parent can be stressful and contentious, but a walk through a scenic area with someone who also appreciates the beauty of the man-made world around us can bring it all back into focus.
These were the stairs that first drew me in at ECC; they’re on the outside of Building J and perched precariously on the side of the brickwork. The angles, the straights, the bricks, the shadows all combined to create great imagery.
I’ve lived 2 miles away from Elgin Community College for ten years now, but I’d only visited when I was teaching my daughters to drive. As I walked into Building H for my daughter’s first class, I was struck by how many photo opportunities exist in the architecture. So, the next week when I dropped her off, I chose to walk around and capture a few of those images.
Sometimes it’s just the simplicity of the photo.
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The concrete and glass exterior of the building on the south side of Wells becomes the perfect canvas for abstract architecture presented by the stepped exterior of the top of the building on the north side of Wells.
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This fantastic oddity was captured from street level, and I just love all of the distortion. I’ve photographed the curved fascade of the building on the corner of Wells & Hubbard a few times, but always from the 4th or 5th floor of the parking garage with light trails in mind.
(This photo was from a photo walk that I led back in April.)
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The simplicity of this photo is what allows the three distinct shades of blue to stand out.
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Elgin has so many wonderful buildings. This one on Douglas Avenue is very interesting, the fancier façade partially extends to the side which implies that this wasn’t going to be as visible, but there are windows which implies that there wasn’t going to be a building immediately next to it… (Ok, so maybe not “very interesting” only “interesting”.)
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