The second weekend of July 2025, Chicago’s streets came alive with the energy of Leicapalooza, a weekend where Leica enthusiasts, seasoned pros, and first-time shooters came together for challenges, talks, and unforgettable moments.

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That instinct to observe, compose, and distill; would eventually guide him to the still image. It happened during a black-and-white photography class at Columbia College Chicago, taken to fulfill a graduation requirement. What began as coursework became a calling. “Little did I know,” he says, “this would start me down a path of photography as a passion.”

There’s something unmistakable about a film photograph committed to paper. It’s not just the grain, or the tonal falloff, or the muted glow in the highlights, it’s the sense that something lived here. Film, by nature, is imperfect. It breathes. It softens the sharpness of reality just enough to let emotion in. And when it’s printed on the right surface, that softness becomes physical.

Joe photographs with the eye of a director, drawn to quiet drama and the gestures of everyday life. He speaks of story as a living thing, shaped by light, space, and human presence. “The world moves,” he says. My job is to freeze moments and tell a story. He favors observation over orchestration, letting curiosity guide the lens. If that curiosity makes someone feel sad, happy, uncomfortable, or even angry, that’s their truth. And mine was the curiosity to make the image to