adler and sullivan's solomon blumenfeld building in black and white and color images

recently found and seldom seen richard nickel kodachrome images of adler & sullivan's solomon blumenfeld building taken shortly before its demolition. the three-story building with limestone facade was built for chicago clothing merchant solomon blumenfeld between 1883-1884. 

it's fascinating to see the blumenfeld building portrayed in two different mediums. with color photography, special attention towards the colors and how to utilize them is necessary to create a deeply informative and factual composition. if working in black and white, the interaction between textures, contrasts, and shapes needs to be considered to execute a visually compelling, but honest image. both mediums capture and accentuate certain facets of the blumenfeld building and its architectural features.

during its demolition in 1963, nickel saved the black painted ornamental pine wood spandrels, strongly geometric art glass windows, limestone panels, cast iron newel posts, and the slender wood mullions. a two-part limestone panel is displayed in lovejoy library located on the southern illinois university campus.

the richard nickel collection of early sullivan-designed ornament - rescued during demolition of adler and sullivan structures in the 1950s and 1960's - was sold to the university in 1966, where it resides today (both on display and in storage).

images courtesy of the richard nickel archive, ryerson and burnham archives, art institute of chicago. limestone panel photographed by eric j. nordstrom