Photographing Chicago’s West Side is a Labor of Love for Artist-in-Residence at Legler Library

Marc Vitali | February 28, 2025, 2:05 pm

A photograph by Kenn Cook Jr. (Courtesy of Kenn Cook Jr.)

Kenn Cook Jr. began taking photographs just three years ago, and already his efforts at documenting the West Side of Chicago have opened doors.

One of those doors is to the studio he occupies as artist-in-residence at Legler Regional Library in Garfield Park.

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Cook’s photography assignments have included the Chicago White Sox, Uber and the NAACP, and he’s staff photographer of The Culture, a grassroots organization.

But the Austin resident’s favorite pursuit is photographing people and places in the neighborhood.

“I carry my camera with me pretty much everywhere I go,” Cook told WTTW News. “I drive through the community, see something I like, get out of the car, talk to people, spend some time and ask to take their photograph. I try to make it an everyday practice just to capture the beautiful moments I see.”

A photograph by Kenn Cook Jr. (Courtesy of Kenn Cook Jr.)

The community has his back.

“They have really taken care of me as far as my work and my practice,” Cook said. “First of all — the access. It’s so cool to go around and people recognize me as the guy who’s gonna take photos. ‘The Cameraman,’ some people say.”

His impressive black-and-white photographs are now being assembled for a book to be titled “From the Westside, With Love.” On the walls of his studio, the photos brim with pride and beauty.

Cook caught the photography bug by revisiting photos his father had taken — of his family and of life on the road as a truck driver.

“I started looking through these images as I’m older and was really moved by how much of my family history was captured,” Cook said. “I’m like, man, this is a powerful tool. That’s what sparked it. I got a camera and said I’m gonna take photos of my family, and then it just sort of snowballed.”

He discovered the work of Gordon Parks, the late American photographer, artist and champion of social justice. Parks and other photographers helped Cook see the potential of pictures.

“This can change culture,” Cook said about his camera. “We need this. I was already involved with the community and trying to fight for change and make a difference, but having a camera gave me a way to do it, and I found my niche in how to activate and make real change.”

A photograph by Kenn Cook Jr. (Courtesy of Kenn Cook Jr.)

Change includes resisting media narratives about the place he calls home.

“The media has portrayed us as this almost uninhabitable place in the city — like if you live there, you’re crazy,” Cook said. “But that’s not what I see. That’s not the West Side I live on. So I’m trying to show the true West Side that I see, showing that authentic joy and that love.”

As the 2025 artist-in-residence at Legler Library, Cook hosts weekly open studio sessions, and he wants to hear from residents — plans are underway to record oral histories and digitize family photos. He’ll welcome special guests, including Drea Slaughter of the Garfield Park Rite to Wellness Collaborative. She’ll join him at the library on March 29 at 2 p.m.

“When we talk about Chicago history there’s a lot of gaps in it that pertain to the West Side,” Cook said. “I think that’s because a lot of these archives are in people’s basements or they haven’t told these stories yet. So I want to educate people why it’s important for us to document and how it can affect us as a culture if you use this historical information to guide us to where we need to go next.”

Other projects include taking school children from Nash Elementary on a field trip around the West Side and providing them with cameras

“For me, that’s what this is about — influencing the youth that there’s beauty where they live versus everything else they hear, right?” Cook said. “Because if I can inspire you to see the beauty on the West Side, they grow up and stay here and we build community. I want to inspire people to live here, to stay here and invest in here.”

Kenn Cook Jr. displays his photographs. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

And this emerging artist is walking the walk.

“We bought a house here, we live here, we invested,” Cook said. “I have to be an example. You can be successful and raise a family and do it right here on the West Side.”

In just three years, Cook has thrown his body and soul into his camerawork.

“I make the work so people feel seen and cared about and have a voice,” Cook said. “That’s what the work is — I just amplify the voice of people who live here and give them a chance to tell their own story, not letting that story be written for them.”