Visual Projects of David MacKay

Chicago Parks Project

The Chicago Parks Project is an ongoing photojournalism and podcast project that seeks to explore and understand the complex and varied neighborhoods of Chicago through the eyes of its over 600 municipal parks.

View fullsize The final park of the week was Warren Park. Nestled up against the Robert A Black Golf course, this park was built to be a winter playground. Although there wasn’t much snow on the ground, there was still enough chill in the air for the ice ri
View fullsize Next up I headed to a small Playlot park that included a community garden and a fun looking playground. After struggling to open the gate for a solid two minutes, I managed to get inside to look around. Though it had began to melt, I found a small s
View fullsize The next park I visited was an absolute delight. When I first encountered Indian Boundary Park I couldn't find the park sign but what I found around the corner made me audibly gasp. Built in the center of the park was an amazing wooden structure tha
View fullsize So it has been a bit of a crazy week for me and I have managed to fall sorely behind on posting the daily park photos. Add to that the fact that yesterday while I was out shooting I managed to lose my phone. Either way I'm back at it again. . . . Th
View fullsize I headed next to Lerner Park and was met with sprawling green space that was bordered by a few apartment buildings. I felt like this area was filled by a community that could enjoy walking over this stretch of green, and also take their kids to the
View fullsize The next park I visited was a little sliver of green on the western border of West Ridge. Though not much more than a few trees, benches, and a path this park was a haven for birds, and seemed quiet enough. Yet there was one thing about this park t
View fullsize The first park of West Ridge was ironically named Rogers Park. After scoping out parking, I walked across the half iced over baseball diamonds toward the tennis courts and playground. The weather in Chicago continues to inch towards spring, and this
View fullsize The final park of Rogers Park was the perfect summation of what I had learned of the community area over the past couple of weeks. There I saw spaces for sports and play. Spaces for dogs and kids. Spaces for gardening and eating. Rogers Park is a
View fullsize Yet another playground nestled against the tracks was the next to last park of my Rogers Park exploration. I think it is funny how I ended up with so many playgrounds at the end as the sun began to set. This park was mostly empty aside from a fathe
View fullsize The next park I arrived at was Lazarus Playlot. Flanking the side of the lot were hand painted letters of the alphabet and some more paintings across the way. Nestled between the apartment buildings, this little place looked like the community had
View fullsize I drove further into Rogers Park and came upon Matanky Park, and also one of the few examples of elevation in Chicago. The local neighborhood kids had taken advantage of the recent snow and the sloping sidewalk to sled in this local park. The addi
View fullsize After finishing up on the beaches I headed inland to see some smaller playgrounds. I first went to Paschen Playlot. Knitted along the fence were many colored hearts made of yarn and it made me smile that these warm little hearts were keeping the par
View fullsize I decided to visit the final beach of Rogers Park: Hartigan Beach Park. Containing a playground and beach I would imagine that this would be a great place for parents to bring their kids. I reflected on all the beaches of this neighborhood and what
View fullsize I continued to walk north along the shore towards the bottom of Loyola Park. The loyola dune habitat caught my eye as I scoped out the light house on the shore. I walked towards it and was again greeted with the crashing of waves. When I returned I
View fullsize As I walked down the shore my fingers began to get really numb under my gloves. The wind was whipping up the shore throwing spray in the air. I wondered what it would be like being on a little row boat in those waves and I thought about earlier peop
View fullsize The lake was angry when I headed up to Rogers Park for the third and final time on Sunday afternoon. Seeing as it was super bowl Sunday, there weren't a ton of people outside (not to mention it was a whopping 9 degrees out). I marveled at the crashi

Touch at a Distance

This video is the final project for my course on Multimedia storytelling. The object of this film was to show those who are in a Christian context just how important sounds are to their experience of worship.

I had full artistic direction of all aspects of pre-production, production, and post production. Worked closely with Shane to get the desired interview and B-roll on some shots.