Doug McGoldrick
& Sayre Language Academy

Doug McGoldrick & Sayre Language Academy

How do you document a school year, when there isn’t one? This was the question facing people involved with CPS live last year when there was no school. I decided to document the building and how it was lonely. To me the loneliest part of the building is its entrance, during a regular school the entrance is a hub of activity before and after school with parents and kids swarming around dropping off and picking up children. So I focused on the main entrance to the school, the hub. At least once a week, often more than once a week, I’d go over to the school at the time in the morning when the entrance should be very active and photograph the lonely door. At the end of the year I had dozens of photos of the lonely door. I used the photos to create a triptych showing fall, winter and spring, and also I used the photos to create an animated piece which scrolls through the images rapidly. My favorite part of the animated piece is the occasional dog walker that goes through and toward the end of the year an occasional child will also show up. Feature Sayre school in Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood.