Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/753330
IN THIS SOCIAL MEDIA-OBSESSED town—where locals document seemingly every urban-fabulous moment of their lives, from Gold Coast lunches to Grant Park strolls— Instagram has created a new generation of Chicago celebrities. Wielding influence and racking up followers via their hyper-curated feeds, these power players show the Windy City in delicious, stylish, architecturally amazing detail. Each of the following five dynamic Chicago Insta-stars boasts their own unique lens, but their work has one thing in common: You can't take your eyes off it. NATHAN MICHAEL | THE BRAND MAN @nathanmichael If content truly is king, Wicker Park resident Nathan Michael is something akin to social media royalty. As the founder of boutique agency Low Res Studio, Michael boasts heavyweight clients like McDonald's, Knob Creek, and American Express, who rely on the 32-year-old to help them "tell a better visual story" on social media. The Fort Worth, Texas-raised former freelance designer is an impressive storyteller himself on Instagram, where he guides his nearly 100,000 followers to Chicago's hippest haunts, coolest cafés, and toniest interiors on a #FOMO-inducing feed of fastidiously curated compositions. Tools of the trade: For personal use, iPhone 6+; for professional use, Canon Mark III and Sony a7R II. Inspiration: Forward-thinking Dutch designer Stephen Alesch of design firm Roman and Williams. "There's this [aesthetic] where they can elevate something, but at the same time it can feel really natural [and] comfortable." Growth strategy: "[I] started treating my Instagram like a culture guide, so I allowed people into the world that I was working with. That was definitely the thing that allowed that to take off." Eye candy: "I connect with environ- ments that [have] a piece of nostalgia that makes you comfortable, but at the same time transports you to a new space." Most frequent comment: "People tagging other people and saying, "We should go here." It's cool to see people use [Instagram] as a resource." For Nathan Michael's Chicago favorites, visit michiganavemag.com captiontk MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 119 The world according to Nathan Michael (clockwise from top of opposite page): A snap of Michael's life-long friend, Kyle Steed, painting a mural at Low Res Studio; Michael admires the "worn-in, timeless look" of Fulton Market hangout The Betty; friend and fellow photographer John Stoffer looking studious at Zap Props; a plate of barbecue at Green Street Smoked Meats; a shot for J.Crew, one of the sponsors of Michael's annual "Flock of Fools" trip with fellow creatives. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF @NATHANMICHAEL