Kevin Shick

Border Patrol

This series is about my experience of traveling along the US-Mexico border and the strange feeling that pervades the area. By photographing through binoculars, I am evoking the distorted sensations I imagine those on both sides of the border must have, as a response to always watching and always being watched.

The Commute

We can all relate to the daily commute as a transition from our personal lives to our working lives and back. Each of us has, by nature or habit, a unique approach to life that is revealed in the unguarded moments during this transition. 

This series depicts the daily lives of commuters on the Rock Island train line in Chicago, just minutes from their arrival at the terminal. This train passes by my house every day, and for years I attempted to ignore it, but one day I found myself fascinated by the morning light on the passengers’ faces. I started photographing the riders, taking pictures almost every day for several months.

I discovered that many riders stood in the same place every day, doing the same thing, often wearing similar clothes and expressions. Others, whether they were happy, pensive, worried, or self-distracted with a smartphone, seemed to have their actions and outlooks determined less as the result less of conscious choice than as the result of unconscious habit or unknown personal experiences.

These portraits show true identities, as opposed to the public mask we often wear. I see these pictures as windows into each rider’s personal outlook and the experiences that may have created it.  

Kevin Shick is a fine art photographer whose work explores the human condition and the contemporary American experience. By observing the public and private spaces where our interaction with each other and with the environment occurs, he aims to reveal our collective contemporary culture and individual states of mind.

He got started in photography over 40 years ago by developing and printing family portraits in a wet darkroom, and by exploring nature with an Argus Rangefinder during family trips to Yosemite and the Sierras. Since then he has continued to study both urban and natural landscapes, seeking situations where light and moment come together to reveal insights about human nature.

Kevin has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Illinois, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Following a career in technology and consulting, he now pursues a photographic life.

His work has been exhibited and published nationally, and is included in several private collections. He lives most of the year in the Indiana Dunes, traveling frequently with his wife in their RV.

Border Patrol images are available as 17 x 22" pigment prints made in editions of 9. Pieces are priced at $900 each.

The Commute images are available as 20 x 20" or 20 x 45" pigment prints made in editions of 9 . Pieces range in price from $900 to $1400, depending on size and availability. Images in the grids are also available individually as 20 x 20" pigment prints made in an edition of 9 for $900.

Please call: (312) 266-2350 for prices of specific pieces.
Prices are print only unless otherwise indicated.