On the Corner
On the Corner is an ongoing Biograph production of Chicago street corner stories, told by our fellow citizens. We began On the Corner to build community through shared stories and amplify the diverse voices of Chicago. This project embodies our mission to write and preserve stories that enlighten, entertain, and inspire.
Jackson and Dearborn
It was one of those quintessential Chicago days: bright and bitterly cold. The air feels serrated, you know? I was there to visit the Monadnock Building—one of the first Chicago skyscrapers, designed by Burnham and Root in 1890.
Off Kimball
I used to have the perfect summer job: scooping Italian ice. I loved it. The ice stand was a walk-up window on a residential stretch of Kimball Avenue...
Halsted & Fullerton
Chicago in the summer is good. You sign the lease, you change your pace, you change perspectives in the literal sense. Who knew that the other side of the city had so much to say?
Maxwell Street, My Casbah
I spent my childhood playing in the Casbah. No, not the one in the movie Casablanca where the actors Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman hung out, but the one in Chicago, Illinois: Maxwell Street.
Lake & Desplaines
In the early evening of May 4, 1886, angry workers held a meeting of the Lumbermen’s Union at Zepf’s Hall, a three-story red-brick building at 630 W. Lake Street in Chicago (at the corner of Desplaines Street).
Kedzie & Diversey
A 26 year old Iranian Irish girl with an asymmetrical haircut and plastic Palm Tree earrings stands in her window at Thank You takeout at Lost Lake. We will refer to her as 26.
Clybourn & Division
I’m an unremarkable white man. I worked at a Starbucks, and as a result met a lot of people. One of those people was a black woman who we thought was a teacher.
Pearson and Lake Shore Drive
After an Italian dinner out in the city, rekindling, food and drink, and then two rounds of passionate sex – neither of which I was expecting – I walked her back to Lake Shore.
LaSalle & Superior
by Jordan Teitelbaum
Looking For State Street
Chicagoans always get a chuckle when I tell them I got lost looking for State Street. I came to Chicago in 1971 from a rural area in Virginia.
Cermak & Wentworth
by Krystle Smith
Monroe & Dearborn
by Cathleen Cushing-Duff
Hubbard & Lavergne
by Krystle Smith
Clark & Roosevelt
by Kayla Gordon
Cicero & Ohio
Police brutality shouldn’t happen. I think the government should do more about violence and racism. They only want us blacks to try and fix Chicago, which I’m not saying we can’t do, it’s just that it’s their responsibility too.
Harrison & Central
by Carla Jones