Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Bird's eye view

So, continuing on the subject of having lived in the Chicago suburbs for almost two decades and not getting around to seeing what's out there ...

Mini market

This is a view of the French Market in Wheaton, Illinois, taken from the roof of the building across the street. Every Saturday during the summer months, dozens of vendors spread their canvas awnings and offer fresh produce, baked goods, arts and crafts, meats and cheese, clothing, fresh flowers and garden plants to all who will come. And they do come. The market opens at 8 am and usually by 9:00 or 10:00 the place is packed and rocking.

The manager of the market, who is undertaking an expansion of the French Market concept to another city, asked for some photos to help sell the idea to local chambers of commerce and municipal decision makers.

I played with some selective de-focusing to give the market a miniaturized feel, but there isn't much miniature about the Wheaton French Market. The photo above shows roughly half of the market space. The awnings stretch for nearly a city block. Below, a vendor strolls the aisle prior to the opening of the market - the calm before the storm.

Ready to go

Below are photos which give but a glimpse of what's available at the Wheaton French Market.

Fresh harvest

Corn ... sweet

Busy baker

Hands of an artisan

The Wheaton French market is located at Main and Liberty streets in Wheaton, Illinois and is open from 8 am to 2 pm on Saturdays. Bensidoun USA, the Paris-based company that operates the markets, also offers French Markets in several other locations in Chicago and the suburbs.

Photographs © 2009 James Jordan.

2 comments:

Jem said...

Love the tilt-and-shift feel of the first image - its worked really well. Also love the other shots you posted - they work really well together.

James said...

Hi Jem, It's good to hear from you again! I love your recent series of zoo shots -- I like that they do not look like they were taken at a zoo. Nicely done.