City - Chicago, IL - Entertaining Chicago 1941 - Side by Side
by Mike Savad
Title
City - Chicago, IL - Entertaining Chicago 1941 - Side by Side
Artist
Mike Savad
Medium
Photograph - Colorized Photo
Description
Colorized photo from 1941
Original title: The movies are popular in the Negro section of Chicago, IL
Photographer: Russell Lee
Location: 4719 South Parkway (now Martin Luther King Drive, Chicago, IL
This block was known as the Harlem of Chicago, it had both the Regal theater and the Savoy ballroom. All sorts of famous people played in these two places. Despite that there are really no color images, depictions, postcards etc of this spot.
I made the Regal theater already but as a night shot, so I used the colors from that image. Only problem is, I wanted a red awning on this, and I made it blue on that one, because if I made it red there, it would take away attention from the sign. And in this one it serves as a viewing point since I didn't make the car red.
While the year is marked exactly the same, the night shot has entirely different movies playing. I can only assume that the photographer went there twice over the year. I think the night version was in the cold, I think its spring here. Though it is the same awning, I will say that some time between now and then, it was damaged and replaced.
The blue car was going to be a green car, but it didn't look good in green, so in the middle I changed it to a baby blue car, with mud on the front.
What made this image hard to do, was all the people. So many people. There are several sets of twins, or siblings dressed in the same way. I thought it was interesting that only the kids noticed the photographer. The adults didn't pay him any mind. He probably stuck out, because he and I think he had an assistant were white.
The Savoy sign was a mystery. I found it in a number of colors and blue seemed natural, I was going to make it a yellow color, but I think blue looks a lot nicer.
Uploaded
August 29th, 2021
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