Come the end of winter, it’s easy to get caught in a rut. Especially in Chicago, by the end of February it’s often hard for me to find the motivation to do, well… pretty much anything outside of the house. Today, though, I had to run an errand that brought me downtown to the City Clerk’s office. While at first I was legitimately dreading the public transit trek to deal with Chicago bureaucracy, I was given some very apt advice to take my camera with me—after months of inactivity, it was sitting on my desk collecting dust.

As I got going, I was reminded of high school photography field trips, shooting on black and white 35mm film. With the last vestiges of a winter storm still clinging to the earth, I thought the snow would make for some spectacular high-contrast shots that would look fantastic processed in black and white—just like the old days.

Many of these images are intentionally a bit voyeuristic, focusing on how people interact with the city, while others are simply architectural shots or just shapes that caught my eye. Regardless, I hope you enjoy.

Over the past decade or so, Pitchfork Media has earned its place among (many would argue atop) the most respected voices in music reviews and news. Following its online successes, Pitchfork decided in 2005 to host a Music festival in Chicago’s Union Park, which has since become a yearly mecca for up-and-coming artists and music lovers alike.

These photos are from the first two days of this year’s festival, shot for the Chicago Journal.

Artists featured below (in order): Willis Earl Beal, Sleigh Bells, A$AP Rocky, Japandroids, The Dirty Projectors, Feist, Hot Chip, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

As soon as Mayor Rahm Emanuel and President Barack Obama announced their plans to host the G8 and NATO summits in Chicago, concurrent plans for massive protests emerged almost immediately. Despite the last-minute decision to move the G8 summit to Camp David, thousands of protesters from around the nation converged on Chicago to exercise their rights.

While NATO serves as the military muscle for some of the world’s wealthiest countries, protesters were not only airing their concerns over military issues. Instead, they used the national stage to spotlight an incredibly vast array of progressive issues—from nuclear nonproliferation to health care to climate change. Members of the Occupy movement showed up in droves, along with union leaders, and members of the online hacker group Anonymous.

Agreeing on a single issue for advocacy seemed not to be a priority. In fact, different factions of protesters seemed to be somewhat wary of others—members of the nurses’ union, for example, cautiously eyeing masked Occupy or Anonymous members.

Ultimately, though, these protesters appeared to be most concerned with pushing a general progressive agenda and making their voices heard. These photos are from Friday, May 18, at the National Nurses United protests in Daley Plaza, which featured a performance by Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello.