It's fun to watch as Art Shay's photos draw in another fan, especially a fan as talented and enthusiastic as Justin Kaufmann, who helps run the Schadenfreude blog. Justin is also the senior content developer at Chicago Public Radio and a sketch comic. Justin has a strong sense of humor and a strong sense of Chicago. Maybe that combination helps make him a true Art Shay fan:
I am on this huge Art Shay kick. Art Shay is a Chicago photographer who shot Nelson Algren for Life magazine. It's a great story. Nelson Algren had been writing about the seedy side of Chicago and Shay pitched Life to do a photo essay with Algren. They rejected it, but Shay and Algren became friends and ended up shooting all these great photos of Chicago's underbelly. Mind you, this was the early 50's. The photos are brilliant. Algren is in most of them, blending in or fading away. It was a tremendous idea because it moves you past the routine Sun-Times archive photos (the troops are coming home and they are kissing their ladies!!!), and takes you this place where, well...where you are right now. Division and Damen. The West Loop. South State street.
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