Urban and rural beauty.

Using a documentary photographic style, my imagery often becomes fitting portraits of who or what these buildings were and have become. This imagery is often straight forward and simple with an eye on the blend of architectural shapes, texture, colors, and personality. Highlighting the mundane aesthetics of aging buildings, I look for the quiet beauty these buildings bring to our daily lives that we most often overlook.  

As I study these buildings, I see how the wear of their age makes them keystones of the neighborhoods where they stand. These buildings were made to keep up with their functionality and purpose. They are often a portrait of their owners ingenuity out of necessity. These buildings are monuments to being independent and able to weather the world on their own. Often built and changed by varying owners, they are in a way,  monuments to the success their owners have built through various decades.

Latent prints: Memories of the W.I.

Images from this new project show the buildings that are left as monuments to the birth of West Indianapolis over the past 100 years.  Documenting the buildings still standing as fitting monuments to the  immigrants and entrepreneurs that left their mark on this prosperous neighborhood. The buildings help show the history of this neighborhood as it transforms from a no-mans-land to the city of West Indianapolis in 1894, and it’s incorporation in 1897 into the larger city of Indianapolis as we know it today.

Michael A. Bartosz, Artist and Photographer

Inspiration for my photographs comes from my urban up-bringing on Chicago’s South Side. I grew up in the industrial neighborhoods, surrounded by the shadows of the steel mills. My love of architecture grew from the concentration and architectural styles imagined and constructed through Chicago’s history. Living with the architecture of known and unknown architects, the buildings of the city and the inner-city neighborhoods developed my love for the textures, styles, and shapes they brought to Chicago’s cityscape. Highlighting the mundane aesthetics of aging buildings, I look for the quiet beauty these buildings bring to our daily lives that we may often overlook. 

I studied photography and printmaking at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) from 1976 to 1980.  My teachers were a great influence on me personally, creatively and professionally.  Photographers Harold Allen, Fred Endsley, and Printmakers Karen Savage and Doug Huston were inspirational teachers in visualization and execution of imagery while at SAIC. My straight forward documentary style and keen eye for crisp details, remains a big part of my imagery to this day.

After leaving SAIC, I spent many years in advertising both in Chicago and Indianapolis. I am currently rekindling my creative look at the architecture and feel of industrial and urban buildings in both small towns and big cities in Central Indiana and the Midwest.

I live in Central Indiana. I study and work independently and look for support from local artistic institutions and businesses throughout Central Indiana.