Dyl Elner, Ace Photographer

I've been playing with cameras since I was a kid.

It started when I got an I-Zone Poloriod for my birthday, and I had a bunch of old cameras that I just played around with. There used to be a functioning darkroom in my grandparents' basement, and I managed to save a kit full of functioning 35mm cameras and lenses from obscurity, I still use them to this day. I got my first digital camera when I was in high school, which is when I started to take a serious interest in photography.

I then studied at the American Academy of Art, where I majored in photography. While there, I had some of my work exhibited at Zhou B Art Center in Bridgeport, and some photos I took for school functions were used in brochures by the academy.

After I graduated, I got my first time-punching job as a school picture photographer with Lifetouch, then after that, I hit the big money when I started working as a freelancer for Kodak.

I got into concert photography when my brother hosted a local show in a shack behind a Mexican restaurant in Pilsen. From then on, I started taking my camera with me to every local and big concert I went to, and I began making decent money doing live and posed photos of metal and punk bands.

I've had my work featured in galleries across Chicago, including Bridgeport Art Center, the Metro, Exit, and a shop in Logan Square that sold film. I've also published my work in various photobooks and zines, including a project called "Big Brother is Watching."