Chicago Photographer : Artist’s Favorites
Hi, I’m Mare, a Chicago Photographer. Welcome to my Artist Favorites gallery – with over 20 years behind the lens means I have accumulated a lot of them.
This gallery, showcasing the images I claim as my favorites, is not exhaustive – it is just a small taste of what gets created when a family trusts me enough to show up as themselves. Some of these images are from the beginning of Marmalade Photography (2005!) and some are far more recent…
Why Are These My Favorites as a Chicago Photographer?
The absolute truth? I have favorites from every single session I have ever shot. The images that make me catch my breath are my favorite because they capture something about the spirit of the people being photographed. This gallery exists because these particular images represent something true about why I do this work and represent something true about the person(s) in the image.
You may be asking: “What makes an image one of your favorites?” Sometimes it’s a moment of spontaneity. Or a contemplative pause before a forced expression. You know… a threshold moment. Sometimes it’s a personality quirk that comes to life. Other times it’s something that amuses me. Honestly it’s hard to say exactly why any one image becomes a favorite. But I’ll tell you something deeper than all of that: my favorite images are when I really feel I captured something real – something that exists and is a distinct part of that person’s individuality as a human or something precious within a relationship – the real real.
Where Chicago Families Shine
Truthfully? It doesn’t matter. where we decide to hold your photo session – I’m as comfortable in a new surroundings as I am with my strongholds. Half my portfolio is filled with on location work where I show up not knowing what to anticipate, not really knowing what the setting will play out as. In fact…I really really enjoy going to new places and seeing what we can create!
But what I feel shows up at every session is the feeling of relationship and the feeling of creation.
For instance in this Artist’s Favorites gallery you’ll find images from:
- Chicago’s Lincoln Park
- Rogers Park
- Gold Coast
- Bucktown
- Lakeview
…and so many more Chicago neighborhoods! Some of the suburban on location imagery you see here was photographed in:
- Naperville
- Elmhurst
- Frankfort
- Orland Park
- LaGrange
…and there’s even images from some out of state work – on location sessions in Indiana and Kentucky. As well as my lovely and always available Marmalade Locations.
I’ve been known to photograph my subjects in living rooms, bedroom spaces, on high rise roof tops and on front porches (and even in parking garages!) You’ll find me on rickety docks and downtown sidewalks, in fields and forests and church sanctuaries.
Every stage of life. Every kind of family. Every location and family has a story to tell. I love to tell the story of the people and places I photograph!
My Style Hasn’t Really Changed Much in 20+ Years
What I’d like you to notice – if you look closely – the feel (the vibe, the emotion) of these images has not changed much over two+ decades. Through the years: my technical skills have grown – yes. My experience has grown – absolutely. I’ve played with various process – definitely.
But what hasn’t changed is that breathless moment, the timelessness of the imagery.
What drew me to becoming a Chicago Photographer – focusing on the art and craft of photographing families and children – is ever present in every frame. That “thing” doesn’t really have a name – it’s just what happens when you stop trying to take THE perfect picture and you start paying attention to the actual human beings in front of you.
Saying Yes to Every Moment
Thank you for taking a look at our FAVORITES gallery. Please read our article about choosing a Chicago Photographer and the importance of photography in fostering a sense of well-being in children and young people to learn more about why Marmalade Photography does what we do, year after year.
This gallery may rotate over time, maybe the right word is ‘evolve’… Either way twenty+ years ends up being a lot of galleries to sort through with a whole lot of favorites to choose from. I welcome you to return to see the evolution.
We are thrilled to be the photographer of choice, over and over again for so many Chicago area families.
Marmalade Photography’s mission as your Chicago photographer of choice is to create not only works of heart artwork worth displaying in your home (or office or second home…) but also to create images that capture the spirit and soul of the persons being photographed.
Creating fun family imagery, smiling and serious child photography, detail work of newborns, maternity imagery filled with love and anticipation, the always-fun-soon-to-be-embarking-on-sort-of-adulting high school senior photography that I love is the biggest honor!
Saying yes to the moment has its perks! Capturing moments that make me take in my breath and say “YES!” (those ‘threshold moments‘ again) quietly to myself.
I truly experience this “YES!” at every session and I consider myself the luckiest person for it!
Twenty plus years in?! And this Chicago photographer is just getting started!! Stay tuned!