
City - Chicago, IL - Chicago's front door 1918 - Side by Side

by Mike Savad
Title
City - Chicago, IL - Chicago's front door 1918 - Side by Side
Artist
Mike Savad
Medium
Photograph - Hand Colored Photo
Description
Hand colored photo from 1918
Original title: Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Ill
Photographer: Detroit Publishing
Location: 794 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL
Chicago's lakefront is more than just a scenic boundary; it's the city's "front door," a place where its identity greets the world. Stretching for miles along Lake Michigan, the waterfront is both a natural and cultural gateway. With its sweeping parks, iconic architecture, and shimmering skyline, it offers visitors and residents alike a view of a city that knows how to balance beauty and ambition. For many, the first sight of Chicago's lakefront feels like an open invitation, one that promises grandeur and grit in equal measure.
This "front door" metaphor carries a profound symbolism. Like a home's entrance, the lakefront is a space designed to be open and welcoming, embodying the spirit of the city itself. It's a place where joggers share paths with tourists, where the serenity of the water meets the pulse of downtown energy. Unlike private waterfronts in other cities, Chicago's lakefront remains a public treasure, ensuring that this vital entrance belongs to everyone, not just a privileged few. It's a reminder that the city's heart is accessible, inclusive, and proud of its role as a host.
The visionaries behind this design, like Daniel Burnham, understood the power of first impressions. They saw the lakefront not as a barrier, but as a threshold, a way to frame Chicago's story of resilience and innovation. Today, standing on the shores of Lake Michigan, looking toward the bustling streets and towering skyscrapers, one can feel the weight of this vision. The lakefront isn't just Chicago's front door; it's a statement about who Chicago is: bold, open, and endlessly inspiring.
Color notes:
The original sky was real cloudy towards the back, it almost totally obscure's the art institute in the back, it looks almost like its raining there. It could just be smoke since there is a train station there, that said I wanted a dramatic sky look. Grant park at this time is just grass, it was once backfill, later in the 1930's they added the trees. I've made this image before from a different era, some of the buildings are the same but with new names. Many of these buildings are still there however.
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January 20th, 2025
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