Stephanie Barto
May 13, 2014

The Hair Force, located at 4415 N Sheridan Road in Uptown, is a bustling barber shop that continues the legacy of the current owner’s uncle, a Chicago barber who began his career in 1948. The storefront beckons with cheerful hand-painted signage. The atmosphere inside is evocative of the great tradition of urban barber shops as anchors of community, and places where one’s personal barber can be trusted with any honest opinion or secret.
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Stephanie Barto
May 6, 2014

The shop I featured last week, “Corner Barber Shop” in Lakeview, conjured the nostalgic yet timeless atmosphere most often associated with old school neighborhood barbershops. It had thrived for decades upon a business model that was essentially unchanged as the shop passed from one owner to the next–it was a great place to get a shave and a haircut in a friendly, informal setting. It wanted to be one thing, and do that one thing well. This week, I found myself drawn to explore a new shop in Portage Park that has a very different vision.
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Stephanie Barto
April 22, 2014

In my travels as a Chicago photographer, I love discovering the unique and sometimes quirky businesses that lend character to our city’s neighborhoods. I thought it would be fun to focus specifically on one type of business, and each week feature an example from a different neighborhood. After some consideration, I decided on an exploration of our city’s barber shops and the people who work there.
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