Hidden spaces at Symphony Center
Last Monday I had a rather extraordinary assignment at work. Dutch photographer Jan Theun van Rees came to Symphony Center to take photos of our hidden spaces, which meant I had to take him to the catwalk above the hall. I had never been there myself, so it was a refreshing look at the building for me as well. Conquering the remains of my childhood fear of heights, I roamed the catwalk and enjoyed the spectacular sights and details. It is quite an intricate scene up there with cables, steel, plaster and plugs.
Jan Theun has been taking photos of hidden spaces all over Chicago and he exhibited some of them at the Chicago Cultural Center last winter and spring. Now, he’s visiting more buildings in search for more hidden spaces and Symphony Center was one of them.
It wasn’t your average point-and-shoot camera and it wasn’t your average photo shoot either. In the four hours he was scouting the area above the stage he took only a couple of photos. One photo, for example, had an exposure time of 20 minutes, as Jan Theun only uses available light.
Some examples of his work can be found on this Dutch Web site and Chi*Town Daily News has a story about the Cultural Center exhibition. I, for one, am looking forward to his next exhibit of the new hidden spaces.
