Gary Stochl

Who is Gary Stochl?

Gary Stochl is a street photographer who lives in Stickney, Illinois, just outside the city of Chicago.

He spent 40 years of his life taking pictures of people on the streets of Chicago without showing them to anyone. In the Spring of 2004, he finally decided that it was time to show his pictures to the world, so he went to the Photography Department at Columbia College Chicago and met Bob Thall, the Chair of the Photography Department. Bob was told by his secretary that someone wanted to show him some pictures. Thall reluctantly agreed and tried to get the meeting over with as soon as possible, but after seeing 10-15 of Gary's pictures he realized that this was a photographer of unusual merit. Bob later helped Gary to publish his pictures in the book On City Streets: Chicago 1964-2004.