Chicago · Architecture · Landscape · Travel

I spent twenty years inside one of Chicago's most beautiful buildings.
It changed how I looked at architecture.

The Rookery remains one of my favorite subjects, but Chicago extends far beyond one building — I photograph the city through its architecture, geometry, light, shadow, and unexpected moments. Beyond Chicago, the same eye follows landscapes and cities across the United States and Europe.

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A curated gallery of 26 photographs, selected from my larger body of work

The Oriel Staircase · The Rookery, 1888

The Rookery

Twenty Years Inside. A Different View.

Most photographers visit the Rookery. For twenty years, I went there to work. My Optometry practice was located inside this Chicago landmark, giving me years to experience its spaces, architecture, and changing light. Today I return with a camera — these photographs are my interpretation of a building I knew long before I began photographing it seriously.

All 10 Rookery prints

The Rookery Building’s oriel staircase spiraling downward, black and white, Chicago

The Oriel Spiral

The Rookery · Chicago

Looking down the Rookery oriel staircase, infinite spiral

Infinite Spiral, Looking Down

The Rookery · Chicago

The Rookery grand staircase, black and white

The Grand Staircase

The Rookery · Chicago

Frank Lloyd Wright light fixtures in the Rookery light court, Chicago

Wright's Light Court

The Rookery · Chicago

Geometry, Texture, Light & Shadow

Chicago in Black & White

Strip away the color and Chicago becomes geometry, texture, light, and shadow. Black and white lets me concentrate on what first draws me to a scene — the shape of a staircase, repeating windows, a curve against the skyline, light falling across stone, steel, or glass. These photographs represent the Chicago I most enjoy photographing.

All 39 Chicago B&W prints

Union Station Great Hall interior, black and white

Union Station · Chicago

Union Station colonnade, black and white

Union Station · Chicago

Moon over Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline, panorama

Moon Over Lake Michigan

Skyline Panorama · Chicago

LaSalle Street canyon, Chicago financial district, black and white

LaSalle Street Canyon

Financial District · Chicago

A Wendella tour boat on the Chicago River beneath the Tribune Tower and Wrigley Building

Chicago Water Tower, Michigan Avenue, Gothic Revival landmark, black and white

The Water Tower

Michigan Avenue · Chicago

Lincoln Park boardwalk arch framing the Chicago skyline

Lincoln Park · Chicago

Aragon Ballroom facade, Uptown Chicago, black and white

The Aragon Ballroom

Uptown · Chicago

South Pond, Lincoln Park, Chicago skyline reflected in the lagoon, black and white

Lincoln Park · Chicago

Centennial Fountain water arc over the Chicago River, black and white

Centennial Fountain

When Color Earns It

Chicago in Color

I often see architecture in black and white. Sometimes the color is the photograph — a sunset over the skyline, reflections across the river, light transforming a familiar Chicago scene for only a few minutes. When color becomes essential to what I saw, I keep it.

All 13 color prints

Clark Street Bridge and the Reid Murdoch clock tower over the Chicago River

Chicago River Bridges

Clark Street · Chicago River

Sunset view of the Chicago skyline from the Hancock Tower

Sunset From the Hancock

Wooden bridge at the Osaka Garden, Jackson Park, Chicago at sunrise

Osaka Garden Bridge

Jackson Park · Chicago

Chicago skyline in autumn from 31st Street Beach

31st Street, Autumn

Lakefront · Chicago

Beyond Chicago

Paris, London & the American West

The location changes. My approach does not. From Paris and London to Zion, Arizona, and other places along the way, I look for strong composition, distinctive light, and scenes with a clear sense of place. Some are landscapes, some are architecture, others are moments when place, composition, and light came together — the photographs that earned a place beside my Chicago work.

All travel prints

Eiffel Tower looking up at the iron structure, black and white

La Tour, Looking Up

Louvre gallery arched ceiling receding into the distance

The Louvre Gallery

Centre Pompidou illuminated at night, Paris

Pompidou After Dark

London skyline and the Thames at golden hour

Thames, Golden Hour

The Watchman under the Milky Way, Zion National Park

The Watchman & the Milky Way

Zion National Park

The Watchman at sunset over the Virgin River, Zion

The Watchman at Sunset

Zion National Park

Milwaukee Art Museum Calatrava hallway, black and white

Calatrava Hallway

Milwaukee Art Museum

1954 Ford Customline at the old Lowell Harley-Davidson dealership, Bisbee Arizona, black and white

1954 Customline, Bisbee

Old Lowell Harley-Davidson · Arizona

Frank Lloyd Wright light fixtures in the Rookery, photographed by Dennis DeLee

About Dennis

Same precision.
Different lens.

I'm Dennis DeLee, a Chicago fine-art photographer and an Optometrist for more than five decades.

Photography has been part of my life for years, but over time it became a serious pursuit. I studied the craft extensively and earned a Master of Photography Certificate from photographer and educator Serge Ramelli. My work centers on Chicago architecture and cityscapes, black-and-white photography, landscapes, and travel.

I'm drawn to strong composition, geometry, light, and scenes that reveal something different about a familiar place.

Dennis DeLeePhotographer & Founder · DDOD Photos · Chicago

A gallery benefits from editing. Rather than show everything I've photographed, I selected 26 images that best represent my work today — some have been favorites for years, others earned their place more recently. As my photography evolves, this collection will evolve with it.

The 26 photographs presented here are a deliberately small selection from my larger body of work. They are the photographs I want you to see first.

Explore the Gallery

Take your time. Look around.

And if one photograph stays with you, that's enough.

Full Collection on Etsy