Tom Storm

Why a bubble? This photograph was taken in The Windy City, also known as Chicago, and it captures the whole city in one, tiny bubble. The city is realistically portrayed in the top half of the bubble and is reflected into the bottom half. Tom's photograph from Chicago exhibits his surroundings in a never-ending circular quality that engulfs every detail of his current location. The location Tom picked for Chicago was perfect considering Chicago is widely known for its giant metallic bean in Millennium Park. The only other location in Chicago that would have equally summed up the city would have been Wrigley Field. However, for the city dwellers, shoppers, and travelers, who make up the majority of Chicago, Tom’s photo is an accurate portrayal. The area around the bubble is a blurred so the focus is maintained on the bubble, and what the bubble contains. It is comparable to a pair of eye glasses, vision is blurry without them, but when looking through them, everything is clear. The bubble being so small in size when compared to the giant skyscrapers in the background captures the world around it as if the city of Chicago was the smaller of the two. The giant bean is represented as the centerpiece of Chicago, sitting precisely in the middle, and surrounded by much larger things. By looking very closely and concentrating, almost unnoticeable black specks are scattered throughout the image, obviously people. This is the kind of picture where something new appears with every new glance. Tom’s idea was so ingenious, yet it captures how big the world really is. The funny thing is, he captures the largeness with something so small. A new perspective is all that is necessary.