Lisa Predko's Blog

Thank you Design Bureau for giving me another awesome assignment!  For this project, I was asked to photograph the very cool and talented, Designer/Builder, Jacob Shapiro, from Sharchitecture.  Jacob’s workshop is in a building I am all too familiar with!  Several years ago, I assisted a photographer who’s studio was on the top floor-I have to admit, I don’t miss carrying someone else’s gear up four flights of stairs!  You can imagine how relieved I was to learn Sharchitecture is on the first floor!:)  It was a lot of fun to spend a morning at the shop with Jacob and his team-every time I turned around there was another fantastic design element just begging to be photographed!  Keep an eye out for some of his current projects to appear at Wormhole Coffee in Wicker Park and the French Market in Ogilvie Station. In the meantime, check out a few of my favs from the day!:

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Coming soon on PINK VINYL (!!!!!), Chicago’s own, Cherri Rokkett-Quality you can taste!!!!!!!!

It seems most appropriate I post this now-I just returned from a fantastic trip to LA, part of which was spent on the Sunset Strip!  This trip helped fill in the last piece of the puzzle; I can finally say I’ve officially met ALL the members of Cherri Rokkett!!!:)

I’m sorry to say I missed the Rokkett during their pyrotechnic & spandex filled debut-I was in Middle School, in Michigan,  probably listening to The Cure and The Smiths.:)

Where were YOU in 1988????

Sunset Strip, 2/11/12 11:11pm:

Chicago Magazine gave us the pleasure of photographing several Dr.s for their January issue.  Although they were all great, we certainly have a soft spot for Dr. Geroulis up in Northfield.  I knew this was going to be a good shoot when I was scheduling via phone with his wife, Mirofora; with her beautiful accent, she could read the phone book and it would sound amazing!:)  When we arrived, we learned Dr. G is also an award winning sculptor (how fantastic is that?!) and the experience got even better when I found out there was a selection of bow ties for us to choose from (swoon!).  Dr. Geroulis and the lovely Mirofora could not have been nicer people, I hope to see them both again soon!

If you haven’t seen Design Bureau yet, go buy a subscription NOW!!!! Based in Chicago, it is a magazine featuring all kinds of design-and it’s, of course, designed beautifully.  Issue #5 has a fashion section with type treatments so fantastic I want to hang them on my wall! And the PAPER, you really need to feel this paper!:)

Issue #8 was just released, and I’m thrilled to be a contributor!

Thank you Design Bureau for sending me to photograph Kelly Wagner, Phil Cooper, and Melissa Kirby, all talented designers part of the Event Creative team (as of the article release date, Phil however has moved on to another company). Walking into their giant warehouse for the first time, I could feel the energetic buzz of creativity! On staff designers, lighting techs, & carpenters (only a few of the endless crew specialties!) all work harmoniously to produce not just events but experiences. It all happens amongst rows upon rows, and stacks upon stacks, of props, lighting, and raw building materials.  If only I could have the run of this place for a week-the sets we could create!!!!!:)

Special thanks to Mr. Cooper for giving me a shot that will forever make me smile!:) Family portrait below also includes Gigi-Event Creative’s official mascot!

Ladies and Gentleman,

I have the great privilege of introducing to you, an up & coming talent we’ve had the pleasure of working with for several years now. You might recognize him from small cameos in some of our previous photographs: May I have this dance?, The Inlaws!, and if you go way back, you may even remember one of his earliest roles in Holidad (Page 2 of the website, right column, 2nd row)! May I present to you, in his first time as the star of a feature photograph, Santa Claus: Naughty or Nice?, SANTA CLAUS!!!!

Santa’s co-star is another long time collaborator; playing Mrs. Claus, Delia Aces!!!  Keep an eye out for her February 2012 show with Michelle L’amour’s Chicago Starlets.  I wonder if Santa will be there?;)

Happy Holidays!!!

Thank you Chicago Magazine for asking me to photograph the very charismatic and ambitious Ed Marszewski!:) Ed has his hands on the coolest of cool (all based in his Bridgeport neighborhood): Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar, Co-Prosperity Sphere Gallery, Lumpen, and Proximity, not to mention several other PRINTED publications! Hooray for print!!:) Along with his lovely wife Rachael, he has been working hard to improve their neighborhood and together they are on a constant mission of community development. Rachael, also an artist, has some pretty grand plans of her own-including a path towards medical school, with the goal of creating better access to healthcare in Bridgeport as well as the greater south side of Chicago. I wish the Marszewskis lived in my neighborhood!:)

From the magazine (subscribe here!):

And a few outtakes we shot at the gallery: