Find Me Where the Wild Things Are. Model: Lorena (Tagging @ctoddstoll.bsky.social, since his "Intentional Focus Blur" shot reminded me of this one.) #originalphotography #hiddenwomen #strangeportraits #chicagophotographer #purple

This photo, by Todd Stoll, sent me rummaging through images from a shoot I did years ago...

Bitten by a Strange Impulse. Model: @cassandra-fowler.bsky.social #blackandwhite #monochrome #dangerouswomen #strangewomen #strangeportraits #streetphotography #originalphotography #chicagophotographer #chicagomodel #cassandrafowler

"It's a truism that love is blind; what's less obvious is just how much evidence it can ignore." Margaret Heffernan, "Willful Blindness" #margaretheffernan #psychology #sociology #willfulblindness #love #delusions #relationships #ideology #herdmentality

Nothing ever captured the Trump aesthetic better than this iconic furniture commercial. Make America Tacky Again! #trump #WhiteHouse #MoneyNoTaste #MegBuyMe #TheseAreLeaves #UglyThings #BadDesign www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R34...

Reposting for #terrypratchettday

Green Tea Tin 2064 #prettythings #randomprettythings #snapshot #green #greentea #tea #originalphotography #colors #design #appreciatelittlethings

"Be not afraid, my child..." From "Celestial Veil" by Catherine Archer (@catherinexarcher.bsky.social) Found at Uncharted Books on Independent Bookstore Day, www.chilovebooks.com #catherinexarcher #catherinearcher #chicagoartists #art #watercolors #zines #cartoonists #cartoons #blue #womenandbooks

"We will vote like men and not be sold as slaves" - When Kate Carew drew this cartoon in 1912, women were still being denied the right to vote. Now, the best hope for democracy is that women will vote... but that they will NOT vote like men. Book: "Kate Carew" by @eddiecampbell.bsky.social

"He kept on examining her, discovering the miracle of her intimacy inch by inch, and he felt his skin tingle as he contemplated the way her skin tingled when it touched the water." Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "One Hundred Years of Solitude" #literature #gabrielgarciamarquez #intimacy

Battered by Time. #books #lovebooks #oldbooks #antiquarianbooks #vintagebooks #damaged #originalphotography

"All I know is sometimes some people don't deserve to wear the clothes that they wear or wear the faces that they got." Ray Bradbury, from "Sixty-Six," in "The Cat's Pajamas" #raybradbury #bradbury #imposters #appearances #hardship #route66

Eye on You. Model: @cassandra-fowler.bsky.social Photographer's note: Always revisit your work. I did not fully appreciate this photo until looking through the images again, months after the shoot. #monochromemonday #monochrome #blackandwhite #originalphotography #chicagomodel #cassandrafowler

"Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are." Oscar Wilde, "An Ideal Husband" #oscarwilde #literature #indiscretion #morality #anidealhusband #epigrams

www.chilovebooks.com Saturday, April 25 is Independent Bookstore Day! Show some love for independent bookstores. Even if you can't go, have a look at the map of bookstores. #chilovebooks #booksky #books #bookstores #chicago #chicagobookstores #independentbookstores #bookshops #chicagoevents

"Parents never told their real secrets. They never let you know how they lived in the spaces between working and cooking and running after children and counting dollars." Marisa Silver, "Mary Coin" #secrets #parents #parenting #reallife #novels #marisasilver #marycoin

"I hunger to commit the act of touch." Margaret Atwood, "The Handmaid's Tale" #margaretatwood #atwood #literature #desire #longing #novels #handmaidstale

In a Quiet Place. Model: A.H. #blackandwhite #originalphotography #monochrome #timelinecleanse #chicagomodel #chicagophotographer #hiddenwomen #sensual #a.h. #nudes

Still thinking about this note I found in the children’s section of the public library when I worked there back in 2018. This kid tried to warn us…

The opening lines of "Dark Matter," by Nikita Gill (@nikitagill.bsky.social), from her book "Wild Embers" (Hachette Books, 2017) #nikitagill #poetry #poetrybooks #poets #wildembers #love #hearts #healing #magic #hope #books #hachettebooks

“If you can’t take love to the stars, then what are we doing? Why would we even go? - NASA Associate Administrator Amit Kshatriya

I wrote and posted this to Instagram a couple of days ago and it became my most-read poem ever. I’m honored I get to feel big feelings alongside you all. I’m posting it here too and want to use this space more consistently. Hello friends ❤️

Taking the wins... bookriot.com/rhode-island...

"The easiest person to fool is the one who wants to be fooled." - from "Pandora's Jar," by @nataliehaynes.bsky.social Another lesson from ancient mythology. #maga #pandorasjar #nataliehaynes #euripedes #myths #mythology #medea

Bend Back. Model: Van Helsing #blackandwhite #monochome #originalphotography #inked #tattoos #chicagomodel #chicagophotographer #vanhelsing

Abstracting Advertising Art. Beauty in everyday things: A promotional box from Macy's. The design on the box is by Tancha, 2009, from @shutterstock.com. #tancha #macys #shutterstock #art #design #graphicdesign #advertisingart #beautyineverydaythings

"Derry Girls" drew me in because it's hilarious. But last night I watched the last episode of Season 2, and the ending was fucking beautiful. Make. You. Cry. Beautiful. #derrygirls #lisamcgee #tv #brilliant

Atomic, Blue Black and White #atomicblonde #charlizetheron #ephemera #movies #movieposters #moviememorabilia #goodmovies #coolmovies #badasswomen #strongwomen #prettythings #atomicage #vintagebooks #lovethisposter

Does anyone else think "Clytemnestra" sounds like a medication that would be advertised on late-night TV? "Side effects of Clytemnestra may include numbness, night sweats, skin rashes, dry mouth, and death. Do not take Clytemnestra if you are trapped in a net." #myths #mythology #clytemnestra #dumb

Seeking Repose. Model: Sunshine #beauty #beautifulwomen #lovely #melanin #originalphotography #chicagomodel #chicagophotographer #sunshine #sansbook

"All the moonlight upon her, all the darkness within her! All the night in his arms, darkness and shine, he possessed of it all! All the night for him now, to unfold, to venture within, all the mystery to be entered, all the discovery to be made." D.H. Lawrence, "The Rainbow" #literature

I am not Pandora. My role is that of Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods. Creativity requires a spark, but there is a difference between gods and goddesses. Fire had to be stolen from the gods. Goddesses, by contrast, give warmth and nurture it until it becomes a flame. #pandora #mythology

The Handmaids: No Kings Protest, Chicago, March 28, 2026 #nokings #protests #chicagoprotests #resist #handmaidstale #handmaid #dangerouswomen #womensrights #goodtrouble #margaretatwood

High Contrast Reader. Model: A.H. #womenandbooks #monochromemonday #blackandwhite #monochrome #hiddenwomen #chicagophotographer #chicagomodel #h

This is such a beautiful photo. It's a reminder that grain, low light, and blur - things we often thing of as flaws - can be the elements that make an image striking.

Women of Iran: Woman. Life. Freedom. 900 block of W. Chicago Avenue, July 2025 They deserve better than Khamenei’s repressive theocracy. They deserve better than Trump’s incompetent fascism. #women #iran #humanrights #womensrights #chicago #art #signs

"Let me see thee, but a glimpse—and straightaway Utterance of word Fails me; no voice comes; my tongue is palsied; Thrilling fire through all my flesh hath run" From "The Songs of Sappho," translation by Walter Headlam. (Peter Pauper Press, 1942) #sappho #poetry #love #desire #peterpauperpress

I'll be at C2E2 in Chicago this Friday, Saturday Sunday. Find me in Artists Alley at table G-16!!

"He really did love these women, sort of. He really did want to make them feel better. It was just that he had a short attention span." Margaret Atwood, "Oryx and Crake" #margaretatwood #literature #love #oryxandcrake #maddadam #me

"Not even those of us who think the inside side of matchbook covers with a penciled number is a kind of life insurance can expect a proper settlement when the accident of being our own selves only overtakes us in an alleyway or a bedroom." Rod McKuen, from "Encounters" #poetry #poems #rodmckuen

The goodness of libraries

Silhouette with Book. Model: @cassandra-fowler.bsky.social #monochromemonday #photography #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephotos #silhouette #originalphotography #cassandrafowler

You Are Beautiful #beauty #beautiful #inspiration #colorful #prettythings #originalphotography

"In those days people fell in love much more suddenly than at present, as all ancient stories make manifest..." Washington Irving, "Tales of the Alhambra" #washingtonirving #literature #tales of the alhambra #love

No man who kissed a woman with so much love and longing could ever leave her, unless all the poets were liars. No Friend to This House | March 2026 📗 www.harpercollins.com/products/no-...

"She imagines him imagining her. This is her salvation." Margaret Atwood, "The Blind Assassin" #margaretatwood #literature #theblindassassin #imagination #fantasy #salvation

Captivated by Poe. Model: Annabel Lee #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #monochrome #womenandbooks #womenreading #goth #edgarallanpoe #poe #chicagophotographer #annabellee

"Is there something in us which is drawn to doing the forbidden? Of course, or the story of Adam and Eve getting themselves booted out of the Garden of Eden wouldn't resonate as it does." @nataliehaynes.bsky.social, "Pandora's Jar" #nataliehaynes #pandorasjar #pandora #eve #myths #mythology #books

"To some people, a woman with power and a voice is always a monster." Natalie Haynes, "Pandora's Jar" #nataliehaynes #medusa #pandorasjar #women #sexism #mythology #lovethisbook