The C&A Tap was part of a building two doors south of my studio in the Printers Row area of Chicago. It was a bar and had an adjacent restaurant called Reno’s. Both establishments were thriving and were remnants of the printing businesses of the neighborhood.
The story was that Printers Row might be given landmark status by the city. The owners of the building were afraid that if that happened they wouldn’t be able to change or rebuild their property. So, without a permit, they began the process of tearing it down.
I thought that would be significant, so I began to document the demolition. I set up my old Deardorff 4x5 camera on a tripod and made the first photograph. I then introduced myself to the man operating the wrecking crane and explained what I was doing. He offered to ring the bell to my studio when something interesting was about to happen. I used yellow paint to mark three spots on the sidewalk where the feet of my tripod stood.
One day when I was photographing there a young boy came up to me and asked what I was doing. It was the first time I had to put it into words.
After some thought I answered, “If I didn’t do this, nobody would know what had been there.”
Ron Gordon
Match, 2024
