Self-Portrait

The architectural photographer Barbara Karant turns her camera on her house in Bucktown—and on her rescued greyhounds.

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A portrait by Lee Godie of a blonde with Cleopatra-like hair hangs above the fireplace. Karant has a number of works by outsider artists, and over the years, she has traded photographs of her own for paintings, prints, and photos by colleagues. "I love everything here," she says, "so it won't ever leave." She is a committed collector, as well, of Blenko glass, Italian ceramics, and Fiesta dinnerware.

Karant bought most of the furniture in her living and dining areas at auction at Wright. Among her prizes are a compact sofa by Charles and Ray Eames with the original Alexander Girard upholstery, an orange slice chair by Pierre Paulin, and a rosewood-veneer cabinet by George Nelson. She found the cone chair and ottoman by Vernor Panton at Modern Times. Beneath a glass-and-steel coffee table is a Per Arnoldi rug from Luminaire in blocks of brilliant color.

The loveseat across from the fireplace, now covered in purple with gray cushions, previously belonged to the Mid-America Club, a client of Kar- ant's. Displayed above are a large painting with figures both Greek and contemporary by the Chicago artist Bill Herman, a portrait by Sybil Gibson of another contemplative blonde, and a photograph by Karant from 1984—one of a series of rooms that she constructed in her studio. The painterly scene features a room with a comfortable chair, a standing lamp, and a TV; it is a domestic space that seems personal and mysterious—a peek into a private sanctuary.

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Photography: Barbara Karant; photo styling by Diane Ewing

This article appears in the October 2007 issue of Chicago Magazine.

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