About shuttersoul.com: Your Guide to Living Soulfully in Chicago
shuttersoul.com is a Chicago based culture, lifestyle, and photography site. The site is dedicated to shedding light, visually and editorially, on local culture, talent, community organizations, and places in Chicago and the surrounding areas. shuttersoul.com was formed to provide a unique forum for exchanging local cultural events and exposing Chicago talent of all types to a mass audience. What makes Chicagoland a soulful and great place to live? You'll find it on shuttersoul.com.
Founded: December, 2009/Founder & Chicago photographer Tedd Strom
Definition of shutter:
shut·ter Pronunciation: \ˈshə-tər
a camera component that allows light to enter by opening and closing an aperture
Definition of soulful:
soul·ful Pronunciation: \ˈsōl-fəl\
full of or expressing feeling or emotion
What makes Chicago soulful and culturally relevant?
Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect and urban planner, described Chicago as "Paris on the Prairie" in his ground breaking 1909 Chicago Plan. We no longer define ourselves by Parisian standards, but find there's a new definition of cultural expectations for our Midwestern sensibilities. When others simply see a hard-working city, residential insiders know all forms of art and culture vibrantly pulse through its neighborhoods on a daily basis. Chicago culture is unique in that it consistently evokes feeling and expression while maintaining a universal accessibility for all. Whatever feeds your soul - you'll find it in Chicago.
What can folks do on the site?
• Read editorial on Chicago talent, culture, and lifestyle news in the Scoop section, including a monthly artist and community spotlight and neighborhood profile
• See dates on upcoming cultural events recommended by shuttersoul.com's cultural curators.
• View, purchase, and license soulful, lifestyle photography by Chicago photographer Tedd Strom
• Share what’s soulful in their community to others
• Provide feedback and comments on monthly editorial
• Be a part of a dynamic community that supports Chicago arts
• Join the weekly RSS feed “The Chicago Scoop” and get an insider’s guide on local talent and neighborhoods in Chicago
Who are shuttersoul's cultural curators?
shuttersoul.com’s cultural curators, all industry artists and performers, provide an insider’s view on on Chicago events in the following categories: cinema, civic, comedy, dance, drama, music, and visual art. Meet the cultural curators at....
http://www.shuttersoul.com/colophon
About the Photographer:
Photography is provided by Chicago photographer and shuttersoul.com founder Tedd Strom.
I try to tell a narrative story with my pictures, one that is full of wonder, mystery, and hope. Soulful photography is capturing the essence of a moment, a flicker of light that illuminates a window into someone’s life or place, sometimes providing more questions, on occasion some answers, but it should always remark on the wonder of a moment.To me art is everywhere. By embracing art you open your heart to new experiences and you can conjure up a new sense of place at any moment and share that with others. Living soulfully celebrates the past, embraces change, recognizes the hope for a new day, while always appreciating the beauty of a moment.
Tedd specializes in documentary and lifestyle photography. Tedd’s photography blurs the line of lifestyle and fine art while aiming to consistently evoke emotion and feeling. Tedd specializes in still imagery, portraiture, performance, and landscape photography.
Influences
Tedd’s photography and editorial sensibilities were influenced at a young age by the works of American photographer Gordon Parks, French photographer Robert Doisineau, Swiss photographer Robert Franks, Chicago social historian Studs Turkel, and the comedic stylings and writing of Steve Martin.
While preferring the intimacy and immediacy of close up photography, Tedd’s work runs the gamut from intimate to distant landscapes. Tedd’s images are mainly from the Midwest, but the collection includes shots from “on the road” with soulful images from across North America.
Tedd is a 1998 Bachelor of Arts graduate from The University of Iowa and a 2005 graduate of Second City Theater's Conservatory. He was the Assistant Director for Second City’s 2003 production of Homey for the Holiday’s, a de Maat Showcase production. He also co-directed two short comedic films, The Artiste and Cherished Moments Gone Awry at the 2003 and 2005 Chicago Comedy and Short Film Festivals.
