Publications & Sites 
Niles West graduate displays in Lincolnwood art gallery
This is a self portrait of Leo Rosen, shot with a mix of reflections, in a streetscape. | Photo courtesy of Leo Rosen
Updated: June 30, 2011 3:25AM
Photographic artist Leo Rosen is presenting now until July 14 examples of “Nothing is Beautiful,” the title of his show at Lincolnwood’s Village’s Art Gallery.
His work consists mainly of easily overlooked subjects that have a simple grandeur that might go unnoticed if not captured by someone with an artist’s eye.
Rosen, a lifelong resident of Lincolnwood attended the community’s elementary schools and graduated from Niles West High School in 2006.
“My father, David Rosen, who directs commercials, introduced me to photography at the beginning of high school, and I became serious about it in 2009 when I was in college. I studied film at Columbia College for two years, then pursued photography when I realized I could make money at it,” Rosen said.
“I’ll take pictures of somebody’s jewelry for a website, digitize someone’s paintings, do event photography like weddings. I also sell my artwork, which is in cafes and other places like Sacred Art (4619 North Lincoln Ave.) in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood,” he added.
Rosen’s mother, Nancy, who is a professional painter, also sometimes recreates Leo’s photography on canvas.
“I’ve definitely pulled from the work of both of my parents, and I’m actually doing a hybrid of their jobs,” Rosen said.
“I don’t have any formal training in photography. It’s all been self-taught and experimentation,” he added.
But of all the different kinds of photography that Rosen does, he likes street photography best.
“It started with streetscapes, then it became abstract — as when shooting through windows. There are some pictures where you have no idea where you are, and you don’t know what you’re looking at, but you like it,” he said.
And most of what Rosen is showing is what he calls “walking around photography,” which includes reflections and interesting subjects he has honed in on during excursions in Chicago.
He also has started a small business with a friend, Kevin Nejati, who also lives in Lincolnwood, mounting photographs on wood and pouring liquid plastic over them.
Rosen’s artwork, which sells for $75 to $750, may be viewed 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in the art gallery at Village Hall, 6900 N. Lincoln Ave.
For more information about Rosen’s work, visit www.leorosen.com.
