马克·巴洛格(Mark Ballogg)如今已步入70岁，精力充沛，夹着一本引人注目的新书。他相貌独特，留着令任何百货公司圣诞老人都羡慕的胡子，笑容敏捷，性格开朗，这一切都与他善意地描述为“凌乱无序”的童年截然不同。
作为三个孩子中的一个，他和他的兄弟姐妹可以说是被狼养大的。“我父母结过很多次婚，”他告诉我。“据最新统计，他们俩结过12次婚，结果我们一直在辗转。我们住过很多地方，非正式的寄养家庭，各种各样的地方。”
他的父母都去世了，但他的母亲酗酒，他的父亲是“一个脾气暴躁、只能吃苦耐劳的父母”。尽管如此，巴洛格不仅活了下来，而且能够看到年轻混乱的光明一面。他说:“那段日子很艰难，但它教会了我适应新环境的能力，让我能很快交到朋友。”
在读完许多语法和高中之后，他做过动物园管理员、游泳池维修工、送货员和各种餐馆的服务员，这只是他众多工作中的一部分。他在一个摇滚乐队演奏，但“知道自己永远不可能成为明星。”
他确实有一种艺术冲动，表现在他画的小品上。为了保存其中的一些，他决定买一架相机，花了500美元买了一架尼康相机，同时意识到“我最好学会如何使用这东西”。于是他进入了哥伦比亚学院，开始学习摄影。他住在他哥哥的花园公寓里，他称之为“超大衣柜”，他靠做助教的工作来支付学费。
他说:“当我第一次在暗房里看到一张图像出现时，就像变魔术一样。”“我被迷住了。”
他也很优秀，在他大四的时候，一位老师给他提供了一笔奖学金，让他带着相机和美术学士学位去了巴黎。在经历了一段艰难的日子和蟑螂出没的房间后，他最终爱上了这座城市，尤其是它的古老墓地——拉雪兹公墓。他在那里和巴黎的许多街道上拍照。
他的女友保拉·扎扎克(Paula Zajac)是哥伦比亚大学摄影专业的学生，曾和他一起在巴黎待过一段时间，如果你现在问他那些日子是怎么过的，他会给你琼尼·米切尔(Joni Mitchell)《巴黎自由人》(Free Man in Paris)中的一句歌词:“我在巴黎是一个自由的人/我觉得无拘无束，充满活力。”
回到芝加哥后，他与哥伦比亚大学的同学詹姆斯·斯坦坎普(James Steinkamp)合作成立了斯坦坎普/巴洛格(Steinkamp/Ballogg)，该公司在接下来的20年里成为一家受人尊敬的成功建筑摄影公司。他和宝拉结婚了，她将成为一名厨师。他们买了一栋楼，有了两个儿子，现在已经成年，一个是加州的艺术家，另一个是CPS的老师。
“生活很美好，”他说。
尽管如此，他对艺术的渴望依然存在，尤其是在2015年他写了一本关于巴黎及其阴魂不散的墓地的书之后。五年前，当他的商业生涯逐渐结束时，他陪同一位朋友参观了理查德·亨特(Richard Hunt)的工作室。亨特是南区本地人，年近90，被认为是世界上最重要的艺术家之一。他的工作室位于前CTA变电站，我的同事Darcel Rockett将其描述为“一个充满创造力的仓库，可以给人一种震撼……一个洞穴状的结构，(在那里)人们可以看到光、影、书、纸板和金属准备变形成某种超然的东西。”
Ballogg was similarly impressed, saying, “I was stunned and amazed by Richard’s space.” It is the first photo one sees in Ballogg’s book, “Making Space.”
Now, there have before been photo books devoted to artists and the places they work. Ballogg looked at a number before deciding that “I could bring something new to it.” He began his project, contacting artists and asking if he could photograph their studios. Some he knew. Many he did not. “But one artist would suggest another and make an introduction and it went on and on.”
Before each visit he would familiarize himself with the artist’s work through online research, saying, “But I didn’t want too much information. I wanted to walk in a fresh way to each space, to see them as if for the first time.”
Each visit consisted of two hours of shooting photos followed by one hour of shooting the breeze, so to speak, listening to artists describe their work. He recorded these and has used some of the words to embellish the photos.
“I always felt like I belonged and didn’t belong. Art can exist in-between things.”
“I make chaos. There’s an order here that’s been disrupted.”
“For me, art was never about expression. It was always about exploration.”
“Moving back and forth between idea and experience.”
Some artists did not want their words used. Some artists did not make the final cut from the 162 visits, 162 transcripts and more than 4,000 images.
Those images, both wide shots and detailed photos, are easy to get lost in. The words, many of them, read like poetry.
“Making Space” is a captivating book and one that meets the goal Ballogg set for himself: “I was after diversity, diversity of sex, race, age, styles.”
One of the artists featured is painter Tim Anderson, who tells me, “Mark has photographed many paintings at my studio over the years. He is organized. He is efficient. He doesn’t dawdle. He keeps it loose and it is always fun. He took dozens of photos in my studio, of my paintings mixed with all the other bizarre items there that keep me on my toes.”
about “Making Space,” Anderson says, “This is the kind of book that I love, down to every detail. It is a great example of getting exactly what he wanted but I don’t know how he did it. I will never get to visit all of these workspaces. But I love this view into the lives of all of these creators.”
Ballogg is in the process of getting his book into the hands of all the artists he met and photographed. He has plans for more exhibitions. He also tells me that this book “documents my evolution as a photographic artist.”
He then says, “The challenge, I suppose, is to ask, ‘Now, what comes next?’”
