When it comes to winter photos, Chicago photographers are exceptional at capturing the beauty of snowy and caked-in-white winters.
The Windy City can be a snowscape like none else in the country, and thus, Chicago photographers have the unique task of capturing the beautiful landscapes present.
Chicago’s famously-cold winters might keep most people locked inside, but winter is a very special time for photography. Ever-present are snowy landscapes, covered-up architecture, portraits in the silence, and the snow.
Here are five Chicago photographers whose winter work we are looking forward to seeing this season:
Deirdre Hayes
Deirdre Hayes is a cityscape and travel photographer based in the Windy City.
She maintains a website and blog for her artwork, where in addition to photo portraits, there are plenty of exciting cityscapes, including high-quality action shots of snow where the frame is obscured by snowflakes and streaks.
Hayes is therefore a Chicago photographer perfectly adept at managing the cold winters and capturing the intense and exceptional beauty of the city.
It’s not the clean shots of snow on the streets you’ll often see with winter photography; these pictures capture the feeling of walking through the snow as it’s falling down thick.
It’s thus a truly unique approach to photos within the winter cityscape of Chicago. One that earns its spot here at the top of our list.
Barry Butler
Continuing the theme of photographers with a connection to both Chicago and Ireland, Barry Butler is a veteran photographer with over 20 years of experience whose work is all over the media.
Not only is he a renowned and experienced photographer in traditional media, with many published books, but he’s also quite active on his Instagram page and personal website, where you’ll find information about his work.
Daniel Moreno
Another photographer active on social media, up-and-comer Daniel Moreno captures a lot of long-exposure nighttime scenes.
In addition to his static daytime shots, the scale of his work runs the gamut from a pigeon on the street, to massive wide shots of the city streets and the night-time skyline.
Once the snow starts falling in Chicago, those night-time photos will bring the winter a new life.
Jacob Yeung
A photographer with an interesting mix of styles, Jacob Yeung‘s artwork runs the gamut from landscape photography to portraits. The long-exposure images of the city on his Instagram truly convey the energy of the city even with their subjects at rest.
Walter D Street
We’ve been talking about photography in terms of landscapes and portraits, but there’s no reason you can’t do both in the same shot. Just check out this snowscape portrait below:
Walter D Street’s photos on his Instagram have undergone a stylistic shift in recent years – from portraits and street vignettes to grayscale cityscape scenes, often empty of human activity.
It’s been some time since this account saw activity, but we like his style. And once winter really sets in Chicago: gray-scale snowscapes. Now that’s a photographic style we need more of.
Chicago photographers setting the tone for capturing beautiful winter photography
These five Chicago photographers truly create the mold for what it takes to capture exquisite winter photos.
There is something especially beautiful about the snowy Chicago streets, the snowflakes briskly fluttering past, and the buildings caked in white.
Whether specializing in portraits, landscapes, architecture, or anything in between, these artists are savants at what they do. And thus, are Chicago photographers whose work we will view forever.