The Rookery · Chicago
The Grand Staircase
Light Court, Frank Lloyd Wright Renovation, 1905
For more than twenty years, this staircase stood directly outside my Optometry practice in the Rookery Building. I went up and down these steps several times each day, while patients, visitors, and architecture students paused in the Light Court to take in the space around them.
I made this photograph in 2020 from the main floor, after trying several viewpoints. The centered composition felt right. The twin planters, matching globe lights, marble stairs, and lace-like ironwork settle into a quiet symmetry.
Long before I photographed it, the Grand Staircase was part of my daily life. Every time I walked those stairs, I felt as though I were walking into history.
