Annika & Ray

Life in the city seems to speed by faster than normal, maybe it's because the city never sleeps. Stories formed here thrive by the glow of the skyline at night. Stories you point to and say "this changed us for the better".

I love to tell these stories - of couples and the closing of a chapter of their life kindled by a sacred connection with the city they love. So when Annika texted me to share the news about their upcoming move to New York (RIGHT when we were moving closer to Chicago!) I knew I had to tell their story.

We started in Lake Shore Park, where they got engaged, taxied to museum campus, where they'd run after work, and ended in their empty apartment.

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, Hither & Hold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

As their moving boxes were packed waiting to be put on the truck, I asked them to take a few minutes to breath in the last moments here. To answer the question, "Without you, this city would have felt ___" and "Before you, this city felt ___". They whispered each other secrets kept only in their heart and now between just two.

Chicago Skyline Goodbye Story - Annika & Ray | Alicia Sturdy, #hitherandhold | www.aliciasturdy.com

To view the rest of the gallery, click here (http://printshop.aliciasturdy.com/gallery/annika-ray-goodbye-session/) and don't miss the special 10 second video preview of Annika & Ray's session ONLY on my Instagram (@aliciasturdy)!