On any given day, Anthony Spears can be found photographing street scenes, architecture or bees.
It doesn’t get much better than that for Spears, who recently was named Photographer of the Year at the Christopher Gallery at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights. His winning portfolio was comprised of pictures from a recent trip to Bangkok, Thailand, which showcased the colorful, glittering lights of the city and its people.
“I could lose myself and spend all day taking pictures,” said Spears. “I feel compelled to take pictures and if I’m not taking pictures, I’m editing them.
“I just like making beautiful things … I want to capture those things,” said Spears, who lives in Crete.
Spears took the trip to Bangkok with his wife, Nicki, upon his retirement from working in information technology at the Social Security Administration for years.
The journey provided the perfect backdrop for his photography.
“It’s night and it’s a vibrant city,” said Spears. “You just aren’t noticed … the city is so busy and fast-paced that nobody really cares.
“In Chicago, every person you photograph is going to look you dead in the eye,” Spears said. So he sticks mainly to buildings, street scenes without people and nature when shooting in Chicagoland.
He also said he was awed by how welcoming the Thai people were.
“I never felt more safe than I did in Thailand,” said Spears. “Almost everyone greeted you with ‘sawasdee ka’ (hello in Thai) and bowed.”
Sometimes he has to force himself to stop taking pictures, like when he’s with his wife, Nicki Spears, and realizes they should be enjoying the world around them, rather than photographing it.
But she understands his avocation and said she loves his photos, including one of a street musician in Bangkok, titled “Bangkok Prince.”
“I remember him taking the photo when we were in Chinatown in Thailand and I just love how he was able to capture the moment in that picture,” she said. “I love the energy of the moment we were there and I think the picture says it all.”
Nicki Spears said her husband’s nature pictures adorn some of their walls.
“We were passing a field (in Illinois) and he’s like, ‘Just look at how that cloud hangs over the silo,’” she said. “Until he pointed it out, I didn’t see it. He can see the beauty in the moment. I think his mind is just going and looking for that perfect photo moment.”
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When he was just 14, Spears fell in love with photography, after his dad gave him a Kodak 110. He lost the camera during a school field trip to a hay barn, but, much to his surprise, his father wasn’t mad. His late father actually became a prolific artist in his later years, Spears said.
He continued to snap pictures throughout college and when he had a son and daughter, he began taking pictures of his daughter playing club volleyball and became the team photographer.
He attended Columbia College, majoring in interior design but dropped out to join the Navy, serving for four years. Once out, he spent a semester at the College of Engineering. at University of Illinois Chicago, but then settled on his job at the Social Security Administration.
After retiring last year, he began pursuing an associate’s degree in photography at Prairie State College, where he had taken some general courses in years past.
He was happy to learn he won the award in April.
“I had no idea it was going to be an exhibit,” he said of his work, which is included in a Spring Student Exhibition at the gallery. “It was a pleasant surprise.”
Rebecca Slagle, his photography professor, said he brings a special gift to the college.
“What I love most is how easily he captures people’s emotions in this series of street photography,” said Slagle. “Anthony has a photographer’s eye, meaning he instantly sees what will be a good composition and snaps the shutter.
“Along with his timing, the subjects and Bangkok make for incredible photographs,” she said.
But Slagle said Spears also simply enjoys learning new things and is a type of role model for other students.
“Anthony is not only a great photographer, he is also a great student, he loves learning new techniques and applies them immediately,” she said.
Slagle said she encourages all her students to enter the competition, which this year was judged by musician and professor of fine and applied arts Lou Shields, photographer and retired Prairie State staffer Kathie Hazlett, and Kellie Lachata, a photographer at Lotton Art Glass Gallery & Studios in Crete.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.