chi sitty is a multi-year photography project that celebrates chairs found in chicago alleys.

it began during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when my daily mental health walks were my way of leaving my studio apartment, clearing my head, and paying attention to the world around me. somewhere along those walks, i started noticing chairs around what seemed like every corner.

& not just any chairs. specifically chicago alley chairs: they’re abandoned, discarded, forgotten, waiting for someone to take them home or for the metal picking trucks or the garbage truck to pick them up. some are broken… some are pristine... some are stacked in pairs or full sets of eight… others sit alone beside dumpsters or garages or sidewalks. each one seems to possess its own character, style, & personality.

what began as a simple practice of photographing found chairs has grown into an ongoing project of observation & imagination. the @chi_sitty instagram account shares near-daily photographs accompanied by puns, questions, & sometimes brief reflections, but the work is ultimately about something larger for me: the act of getting out in the world & noticing. & after a few years of taking photos, i created a coffeetable book of images (organized by the seatsons) & chicago chairs shirts for football season.

as an artist, i believe that noticing is the beginning of the creative process. by paying attention to a feeling, a place, an object, or a situation & honoring it & exploring it with different formats, you are creating art. & so i really see chi sitty as an art project: chairs become invitations to imagine stories, experiences, & personalities, to a certain extent. they ask us to (re)consider at what might otherwise be overlooked & sometimes i go on walks just to seek out something weird or whimsical… & chairs count on those lists for me.

this project is an act of leaning into humor, honoring chicago’s alleys & urban life, & finding meaning in unexpected places that are hidden in plain site. it’s a reminder that there is always more to see & consider.

recent photos from the ongoing project are found on instagram (@chi_sitty) & below.