Where Art Meets Business, Peerspace Rises!
Words by Franky-Dono
All photos/bios adapted from & linked to their respective sources.
For those of us with at least an ear inside the scene, the lack of industry-level resources based in Chicago is no secret. Even so, the city’s artistic circles have never ceased to sustain themselves. As we approach 2018, Chicago’s semblance of a renaissance has only become more evident. An environment seemingly ruled by the business of politics and reputation has since expanded to the world of investments and contracts. This change in climate has garnered much attention. Whether it’s the first free album distributed through Apple Music, like The Social Experiment’s Surf, or the more recent Chicago Bears collaboration with JoeFreshgoods—Windy City creatives are big business now. Brands around the world are looking to get a piece of the action, but no one's doing it quite like Peerspace.
Founded in San Francisco by CEO Rony Chammas, Peerspace prides themselves as the AirBnB of commercial properties. Through short-term leasing, Peerspace seeks to connect brands and professionals to truly one of a kind spaces. A typical three-year lease doesn’t always make sense for specialized business owners, especially ones with traveling careers. Luckily, the folks over at Peerspace have your back. As long as there’s an opening, you can rent a space for an hour or even days at a time. Whether it’s a meeting or an event, Peerspace can put you in a location that inspires your people.
Not only do they help monetize local properties with professional creatives nationwide, they promote these partnerships on all their platforms—that includes their mobile app. The success speaks for itself. Since starting in 2014, Peerspace has expanded to over 40 offices around the country. Primarily based in California, the company is also creating communities in places like Atlanta, New York, and Seattle too.
Feature Studios
It wasn’t long before they set their sights on Chicago. After touching down in 2016, Peerspace has only fallen deeper in love with the city. They’re inspired by Chicago’s intense mash of art, dining, and architectural culture. To showcase their appreciation, these West Coast innovators chose nine locally based photographers to represent Peerspace Chicago. With their friends at Feature Studio, Peerspace Rising: A Photo Exhibition becomes a reality tomorrow night. Hosted by Alina Tsvor, Chanté Linwood has been elected to provide the soundtrack from 7-10pm. Everyone attending will be the first to witness an event at Feature Studio’s 5700+ square foot gallery in all its glory. The event will feature a piece from each photographer dedicated to the theme of Rising.
To learn more about them and how to RSVP for the exhibition, take a look below.
Alina Tsvor
"Alina Tsvor is a Chicago based photographer specializing in portraiture, commercial, lifestyle, travel, storytelling, and social content. Alina has her BFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago and has 8+ years experience working with national brands on campaigns."
Dennis Elliot
"Dennis Elliott is a cinematic conceptual portrait photographer and content creator at Havas worldwide Chicago. When's he's not making innovative content for american brands at Havas, he's spending his time creating thrilling visual stories. 3 years in photography, Dennis has collaborated with a number of fellow artist and brands, leading him to recent partnership with Adidas on the EQT campaign. He hopes to continue to create exciting movie-like imagery to explore more storytelling."
Evan Sheehan
"Evan’s background in video and design is richly demonstrated in the resonance of his photography. Each image tells a story, invoking the viewer’s imagination through both action and elegance. Beginning his journey into photography with simply an iPhone 4, Evan’s scope of subjects range from portraits and products to food and lifestyle. Using both his creative eye and knowledge of marketing platforms, Evan is able to provide the most effective media for a variety of outlets."
Jason Knade
"Jason is a Chicago-based director of narrative films, commercials, and music videos. He also works as a writer, cinematographer, and producer. His work has been called ‘poignant’ and ‘intelligent’ by The Huffington Post, ‘heartbreaking’ and ‘raw’ by The Los Angeles Times, ‘sexy’ and ‘risqué’ by The Wall Street Journal, and ‘noteworthy’ and ‘viral gold’ by the Daily Beast.”—IMDB
Michael Salisbury
"Mike is a full-time DevOps Engineer in Chicago, and he's been taking photos for the past nine years. It's wasn't until recently that his photography became more professional, spreading across social media and blogs such as PetaPixel, FStoppers, Architectural Digest, Colossal, and of course These Days News. Since then, his social networks have grown beyond 87,000 followers on Instagram and over 40,000 followers on Tumblr."
Vince DeSantiago
"Vince DeSantiago is a Photographer and Art Director based in Chicago. Coming from a background in art & design, Vince utilizes his experience in order to create photography that tells a story and holds some water. Vince often leans on friends and clients to help him make sure he achieves photography that everyone can be proud of."
Max Schreier
"Max is a freelance content creator based in Chicago with skills ranging from architecture, editorial, event, lifestyle, and landscape photography. 'I’ve realized I just want to make great work that I’m proud of, I don’t really care about getting recognition. I’d rather do cool stuff behind the scenes.'"
Ryan McMahill
"Ryan McMahill is a photographer, designer, and creative director of Feature Studio based in Chicago. Located in the premier West Fulton Market district of Chicago, Feature Studio is his flagship space.Need a naturally lit and spacious studio that offers various equipment rentals? Without a doubt, Ryan McMahill is the person you’re looking for."
Jackie Robertson
"Jackie Robertson is a visual and sonic content creator whose work is heavily influenced by 18 years of classical cello training, 5 years as a freelance photographer and extensive international travels. She’s created images for fashion editorials, events, products, and everything in between. They highlight her perspective of the world and are symbolic of my curiosity for humankind and culture. She also records and mixes tracks with fellow hip-hop producers in the studio, and work on cinematic projects with the Chicago-and-NYC-based collective she co-founded, Just Creators."