Sometimes it takes an outsider to reveal things we take for granted.
A native of Spain, Judit Prat Marti was a newcomer to Chicago in early 2020. She moved here to accept a fellowship in the University of Chicago’s Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Three months later, the pandemic struck – and Prat Marti shifted her focus from the cosmos to the city.
She took photography classes and explored Chicago with a camera. She built a body of work taking photos of overlooked nooks of the city, embracing the finer points of her temporary home.
Now this scholar of cosmology is a photographer with a new book, published by Chicago’s Trope Publishing Company.
“Chicago in Color,” is a modestly-scaled gem with many facets of lively color. There are views of familiar places seen through fresh eyes, but the book’s strength lies in the smallest of details: minimalist compositions of nature or infrastructure linked by a colorful photographic palette.
Judit Prat Marti now lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.
WTTW News spoke with the artist/scientist during her visit to the Kimball Arts Center to hear her views on big topics (the differences between Chicago and European cities) and smaller ones (Malört).
Judit Prat Marti is pictured in Chicago. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)
WTTW News: Welcome back to the city, Judit. Your book is like a valentine to the city of Chicago.
Judit Prat Marti: It was my first time living in a big city – I’m from Terrassa which is a small town close by Barcelona, and that’s where I lived all my life before I did my undergrad and moved here after my PhD. I love how Chicago is super-diverse and you can learn about many cultures. Chicago gave me a lot, and I wanted to give back to the city in some way.
The city, with its grit and grind, seems to invite black-and-white photography, but you saw the colorful side.
Prat Marti: I had an explosion of personal growth with friends here, and Chicago was definitely a part of that with the whole city being so vibrant. I think that’s why I identify it with such bright color.
How else did you connect with Chicago?
Prat Marti: The people are very open and kind here. I hear there’s a “Midwest nice,” and in my experience it’s true. Where I’ve lived, people are nice but not so outspoken or open to new ideas. They keep more to themselves. In Stockholm people don’t talk to each other in the streets, and in Barcelona people are usually not that open to new connections. Here, you could just be in a bar and people will talk to you and be interested in what you do or just give you a nice compliment about your hat.
That’s so good to hear. What did you find unusual about the city?
Prat Marti: It’s so car-centric. People look at you weird when you say you came by public transit. When people talk about going places or events, they talk about parking instructions instead of, like, how do you get here by public transit? That’s very different from places where I’ve lived, and it affects a lot of things.
“Chicago in Color” by Judit Prat Marti.
You photographed downtown and the North Side, but your book has a strong emphasis on the South Side.
Prat Marti: I talked with colleagues before moving here and people were like “You should live here, but not there – it’s dangerous, blah-blah.” And this narrative was very strange to me, because in Europe we don’t have this. We don’t usually say ‘Don’t go here.’ So when people would say that, I was curious – like, what is going on? Why can I not go there? It cannot be so bad, right?
Then I started going to places that “you’re not supposed to go” and at the beginning it was kind of scary because of all the things that people had told me. You feel uncomfortable because you have this preconceived notion of how it’s going to be. And there are differences, but if you continue going you get familiar with a place. It doesn’t feel scary anymore. It’s just that there are obvious things, like there’s no longer White people and there’s Black people. That’s what I noticed, but also that it was a nice place.
There’s this imbalanced situation in the city where many people haven’t even been in the South Side. One of the things that I wanted to do with the book was to highlight the South Side of Chicago and to encourage people to visit. That’s the first step – to at least go and see what’s out there.
And did you explore the food culture of Chicago?
Prat Marti: The deep dish pizza is good, but I’m from Spain. Chicago’s food is not what I’m here for. [laughs]
Fair enough. One last question – did you try Malört?
Yeah, I tried Malört. I am not a fan.
Marc Vitali is the JCS Fund of the DuPage Foundation Arts Correspondent.
