Shades of Chagall

This week I participated in a short photo walk through the downtown business district in Rockford.  Ed, my friend and fellow photographer, had agreed to join me in exploring the many newly created murals painted on the sides of these ancient spaces.  

As in many communities, the downtown areas dried up with the invention of shopping malls in the late 60s and early 70s.  One effort to revitalize these old retail spaces has been to paint murals on their exteriors to give them a fresh and friendly look.  The plan succeeded in that regard but murals alone have not succeeded in resurrecting the retail sales this area once enjoyed.  The future will likely reveal a different purpose for these historic structures that were once a part of the city's mainstream retail life.

The photo I selected from that shoot was not a mural but reminded me of a Marc Chagall painting. While the murals are a permanent part of the landscape, this reflection in the window of a trendy haberdashery was a fleeting image within that afternoon's light. Chagall was a painter of murals and many other large works. His work reminds me of a series of compartmentalized scenes existing simultaneously while remaining free of time restrictions. Elements within the scene are identifiable but the connections between them are more opaque. I enjoyed the effect of this photograph blending the old with the new as do the painted murals displayed on the buildings.  I have posted below other photos that were taken that day.  We didn't begin to photograph all the murals but we discovered that there was more to be seen in that area which will require a second look.

Beneath the Bridge over the Rock River

Painted on the Wall of a Garage