Venue Description:

The locals have the inside scoop on the Wicker Park Historic District—4 acres known as a hub for hipsters, culture lovers, and artists. Not surprisingly, the neighborhood is filled with charming shops, galleries, and restaurants. The park itself was established in 1868 by Alderman Charles Wicker and his brother Joel and has since undergone a series of transformations, including the restoration of surrounding structures that offer excellent photo opportunities of old-world architecture. Forbes even ranked Wicker Park as the 4th hippest hipster neighborhood in the U.S., making it a prime location for compelling street photography of building interiors, exteriors, neighborhood residents, and visitors from Chicago, across the country, and around the world.

Your instructor will demonstrate easy-to-learn techniques for choosing backdrops that enhance environmental portraits, such as the area’s many colorful wall murals, eye-catching storefronts, remnants of 19th-century street construction, and more.

This photo workshop also comes with the added bonus of the Wicker Park Bucktown Farmer’s Market, offering even more opportunities for environmental portraits. Vendors line the streets with colorful displays of fruits, vegetables, flowers, antiques, trinkets, and a wide variety of flea market treasures.

Your instructor will help you develop strategies for engaging people on the streets, capturing them in natural poses, or guiding them to present their most flattering angles. This may involve experimenting with close-up shots, wider perspectives, and carefully selecting background colors—whether by using aperture-controlled blur or by making tones complement or contrast with the main subject in a compelling way. You’ll also learn techniques you can apply not only when photographing friends and family, but also when you’re the one being photographed.

There are 50+ murals, sculptures, and installations around the neighborhood. Want to scout spots before class or find murals to shoot during the workshop? Here’s a map of murals and public art in Wicker Park: 

Wicker Park Bucktown Mural Registry – View Map