Save Local Businesses: Portraits of Chicago Businesses Under Lockdown

We are so happy our Save Local Businesses was featured on ABC 7 with the impeccable Hosea Sanders!  Watch the video above and check out the full story HERE!

Here are some of our latest photographs from the Save Local Businesses project.

 

I started Save Local Businesses: West Town because our doors are closed, but you can still help us.⁠ ⁠ With the help of the West Town Chamber of Commerce and the Wicker Park Chamber of Commerce, my goal for this project is to photograph (from a distance) local business owners, share their stories and provide the face behind their closed doors and dark windows.⁠ ⁠ We are doing this to showcase the effect the pandemic has on local businesses. This allows you to share with others what can be done to support/save small business.⁠

Want to support this project?  I appreciate your DONATION!  Like the businesses I photograph, I have a storefront studio under lockdown.  We also have GIFT CERTIFICATES available for your own photographic session!

Want to be a part of Save Local?  Fill out the form below!

[gravityform id=”12″ title=”true” description=”true”]

1 comment
Add a comment...

Your email is never published or shared. Required fields are marked *

  • Michael BremerMay 18, 2020 - 4:35 am

    Candice,
    This is really terrific with your giving a voice and a picture to what is happening.  I’m not sure what the best decision should be for dealing with the virus but most experts around the world voted for social distancing and flattening the curve.  It makes sense, but the economy and more importantly many small businesses within the economy are paying a high price.  We moved from Chicago two years ago.  My heart is still there and I really like what you are doing with this project.ReplyCancel

Chicago Pet Photographer

Seen. Heard. Loved.

Candice C. Cusic has launched a powerful new project, The See Hear Love Project™, to spotlight the rising number of animals in Chicago shelters. In collaboration with local rescue groups, she’s giving a voice to animals who deserve a second chance and a loving home.

This one-of-a-kind initiative combines the art of animal communication with Cusic’s renowned photography to help each animal be seen, heard, and ultimately adopted. Follow along to meet them and discover their stories.

Since the filming of this video, Ramona has officially become a proud foster fail—aka ADOPTED! She now spends her days living her best life with her mom April, her dad, and five pig siblings, soaking up all the love, snacks, and belly rubs she could ever dream of. 🐷❤️

#chicago #explore #explorepage #fosteranimals #chicagolandpigrescue
SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.
Last year, 3,380 dogs and cats were euthanized in Chicago.
During his animal communication session, Tater shared something quietly heartbreaking:
“Sometimes I worry people won’t like me. I worry if I’m good enough.”
His foster mom couldn’t hold back tears — because he is good enough. Every dog waiting for a home is.
October is Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, and Chicago’s shelters are beyond capacity.
The See Hear Love Project™ unites animal communication and fine-art photography to give foster animals a voice — so they can finally be seen, heard, and adopted.
🐾 Featuring Tater from @darkhorsedogs
📍Created by Candice C. Cusic
#SeeHearLoveProject #AdoptAShelterDogMonth
SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.
Every foster animal has something to say.
Maggie’s animal communication session inspired the beginning of The See Hear Love Project™—and many more voices will follow.
#chicagoshelterdogs
#adoptlocal
#rescuelocal
#chicagodogs
#chicagodogswithoutjobs
Dama may be in a wheelchair, but her spirit is unstoppable.

Through The See Hear Love Project™, her voice and her story are shared—so she can be truly seen, heard, and adopted. 

Thank you @sayvanimals for giving her the chance she deserves.  Thank you @salvageone for welcoming us to photograph Dama in your beautiful space. She was a little nervous Nelly that day, so we finished her session in the studio. We’re so grateful for your support in helping animals like Dama be seen, heard, and adopted. ❤️🐾
##chicagoshelterdogs
#adoptlocal
#rescuelocal
#chicagodogs
#chicagodogswithoutjobs 

SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.
This is Nala the cat. 🐾
Her reading wasn’t about adoption — it was about understanding.
Animal communication reveals what our pets are truly feeling.
Would you want to know what your cat is thinking?
Something extraordinary is beginning.
⠀
The See Hear Love Project™ gives foster animals more than a portrait—it gives them a voice. Through animal communication and photography, their stories will finally be shared with the world.
⠀
Follow along as we change lives, one portrait at a time.
⠀

#chicagoshelterdogs 
#adoptlocal 
#rescuelocal 
#chicagodogs 
#chicagodogswithoutjobs 

SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.
Meet Trixie — the very first foster animal to launch The See Hear Love Project™.

Rescued from Chicago Animal Care & Control and safe today thanks to @darkhorsedogs, Trixie opened her heart during her animal communication session and shared her wish: a forever family to love her gentle spirit.

Her story begins The See Hear Love Project — a movement that combines fine-art portraiture with animal communication to help foster animals be truly seen, heard, and adopted.

This October, in honor of National Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, Trixie’s story highlights the countless foster animals still waiting to be adopted.

Follow along as more animals share their voices — and please share Trixie’s story to help her find her forever home.

#chicagoshelterdogs 
#adoptlocal 
#rescuelocal 
#chicagodogs 
#chicagodogswithoutjobs 

SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.
🐾 After Maggie’s first animal communication session, her words surprised us all.
But what she shared next was just as powerful…
This famous Chicago dog (@maggieandherdads )reminded us why animals deserve to be seen, heard, and loved. 
Her voice helped inspire The See Hear Love Project™ — a campaign giving foster animals a chance to tell their own stories through communication and fine-art portraiture.
Follow along to hear the voices of animals still waiting for a home.
#SeeHearLoveProject #AnimalCommunication #chicagoshelterdogs 
#adoptlocal 
#rescuelocal 
#chicagodogs 
#chicagodogswithoutjobs 

SEEN. HEARD. LOVED.

Our location

Located in downtown Chicago.

1821 W. Hubbard St., Chicago, IL 60622

By appointment only

info@cusicphoto.com

 

Available for travel internationally, for pets & family photography, and education for photographers. Send us a note for details or reach us by phone at 312-248-2939.

 

Privacy Policy