The uncanny and strange look of an empty metropolis. These color pictures are similar in context to my last Corona post, so I´ll just repeat the text I´ve used then.

After an intensive trip to Germany, during which my brother and I took care of some urgent matters concerning our sick parents, I returned to the US at the end of March and found a city that was pretty much in shutdown. In the beginning I could only follow-up visually through our 34th floor panorama windows because of my two week quarantine, but afterwards, some time in April, I slowly started exploring the streets again. It was an eerie experience because every street and almost all buildings seemed abandoned. Most commuters from the suburbs and other parts of town stayed home, just as most residents in the neighborhood stayed indoors as well. Occasional cars hissed by and some people moved about, either taking walks like me, or on their way to the only businesses open at the time: supermarkets, drugstores and pharmacies.

Even though the reason for the shutdown was sad and dramatic - every day too many people were, and still are dying from the virus - the atmosphere in the streets turned from eerie to relaxed, it was the time before the death of George Floyd. Our visiting sons´ return flight to Germany was canceled due to Corona circumstances, so he and I had all the time in the world to explore the streets while jogging for miles. We also took long walks on which I took the following pictures. They were all taken with a smartphone as part of my series on the possibilities and creative range of smartphone-photography.

Some of these pictures don´t show the big throughways, but all convey the

atmosphere of abandonment and emptiness. For a city like Chicago,

an empty parking lot is just as spectacular as an empty street.

Even the local chocolate factory seemed on hold

Strengthening local convictions

Individuals on streets were mostly other hikers and runners

Ten lanes for no commuters. A wishful scenario for the future

when home office will be possible for many more people.

to be continued...

Chicago Gallery