Chicago in Transit, by photographer Graham Chapman, is a portrait of contemporary urban life of Chicago commuters. Spending more than 5 years walking around Chicago with a camera in hand, Graham captured people as they moved around the city, whether on foot, public transit, car, or bike. Chicago in Transit is the culmination of that visual exploration. Some subjects are weary, others alert; some engaged in conversation, others immersed in music, books, or simply their own reflections.

Featuring over 125 color photographs, Chicago in Transit is organized by time of day featuring Chicago's early morning rush, the mid-day lunch break, the evening commute, and late nights. Each photograph is marked with its neighborhood and timestamp. The images are intimate without intrusion, brief moments that reflect the solitude and shared connection people feel while moving around a city.

Meet Graham Chapman

Graham Chapman is a photographer, video editor, and content creator based in Chicago. In 2013, he bought his first camera, and what began as a tool for video work soon exposed him to the beautiful world of photography. For Graham, “stepping into the street” means stepping into the world. What began as a personal exploration has grown into a community of over 40,000 followers who connect with his way of seeing the world. Hear from Graham about Chicago in Transit and his experience working with Trope Publishing below. 

Tell us when and why you started taking photos of Chicago commuters. What drew you to continue capturing these moments?

When I first started street photography, I used to compose frames without people. Cityscapes, images of the lake, facades of buildings, capturing Chicago’s beautiful architecture. Eventually, I realized that while those photos looked great and were aesthetically pleasing, they lacked something. That something was emotion and humanity. Quite literally.

So, I began looking through the lens with the same eye, but intentionally adding people into the frame. I would line up a building straight on and wait for a subject to walk into view, capturing them right in the center. Or maybe it was a single person crossing the street, timing the shot so they aligned perfectly with a building or object. That discovery marked the next step in my progression as a photographer.

Over time, I shifted toward tighter compositions that captured more emotion and frames that could tell a story, focusing on people more and more.

Because I lived and worked in the city, I was constantly riding the bus or the L train. I would leave home hours before work and stay out hours after just to photograph people. To capture the energy of the city. If you take the people out of it, it is just concrete. But the moment you focus on the woman hustling across the street or the man rushing to catch the bus, you begin to see the lifeblood of the city.

Standing on the streets of Chicago, I started to see the city as something organic, almost like a plant. The people moving through it are the water. They are what keep it alive.

Commuters ebb and flow through the streets every day, but the current is never the same. There are always new stories in motion. Every time I press the shutter, I am capturing a small part of that flow, and that is what keeps me coming back.

Your work has previously been featured in a few Trope books. Can you talk a little bit about what it’s like for a Trope photographer to have a solo book and how that process was?

This time, with a solo book, it was a whole other level of self-critique. I went through thousands of photos dating back to 2014 or 2015. I narrowed that down to about a thousand, then 600, then 400, and finally around 200.

I am my own biggest critic. I scrutinize every part of an image, the composition, the color, the frame, the cropping. All of those elements combine to create something that feels right to me. So not only did I have to whittle down many of my favorite images to a relatively small number, I also had to make sure they were truly ready for the public to see. There is a lot more stress and nerves that come with that.

At the same time, it is incredibly exciting. Seeing my work in the city editions alongside so many amazing photographers was surreal. But holding this book in my hands for the first time and flipping through the pages, seeing every image come to life in physical form, was even more special.

The back-and-forth process to get this book where it is has been amazing, and I am so happy with the work the Trope team did to make it look as good as it does.

What is your favorite time of day to capture Chicago commuters and why?

I love getting down to the city nice and early. Being out there lets me capture the quieter, more intimate moments before everything gets busy. I walk downside streets, keeping an eye out for single subjects that might make for a strong composition. Maybe the sun is just starting to hit the buildings, and that morning light feels like it is glowing just for my lens.

Then, as the clock moves closer to 9:00 am, I step into the mix and into the energy of people commuting to their destinations and filling the sidewalks for all sorts of reasons. That is when I really feel the city come alive and start seeing moments everywhere I look. There is never a lack of subjects.

It is the best of both worlds.

Pre-order Chicago in Transit and receive a copy signed by Graham. Order by April 10 to secure this limited edition.

Pre-order Chicago in Transit today.