Wonderful shot! they've always held a fascination with me

That's a great shot! I have one outside my kitchen window, and it does make me feel a litlle safer.

Great capture!!

This is stunning Tara! The repetition of the stair pattern is fantastic and the black against the lighter brick building gives such wonderful contrast. I also love the slight softness you have given a otherwise hard image! Well done Dierbaar!!! :)

sometimes turning back could give a total different view, well seen! RS

I wonder if that's the source of the saying? More than a couple of you on there in an emergency and it could spell disaster. I've always thought these structures rather ugly, but in your hands they become the opposite!

Oooo, very nice. Looks like Tara lighting to me:)

I also like these fantastic staircases. They have these geometric contrasted to the building that I just love. Beautiful capture :-D

wonderful shot of the steps . great colourtones and softness .I like taking those photos also ..they are always so interesting

Fantastic image. Great capture!!!

I'm going to remember Chicago as one of the most amazing times of my life!! This shot just transports me----those fire escapes were everywhere and I couldn't get enough of them. I love this!!

Great shot! :)

super shot

Great geometrical capture!!! :)

Great shot!

Very Nice!

great shot of one of those mazes to the ground. They are fascinating.

Nice capture of this fire escape and nice play on words in the title, love it.. One wonders about the thought that has to go into this when designing the building as to where the windows go to allow room for fixing the escape to the walls and window or doors to access the escape.. Excellent work..

I don't know if I could ever get the courage to get out on one of those again. They scare the heck out of me. The creaking is especially unnerving. This is a cool shot with lots of detail.

another masterful piece by you, I love the angle, but all the moreso your light & hue treatment; you've done it very gently & made it seem like an old aged piece of brass which has gotten that brass patina that every brass sculptor waits for, and left its "ghost" in the bricks. I have no idea where this is--I mean, I know where it is generally, but no clue what building it is, what street, etc. But shots like these remind us that a photographer can take a view of a huge city and make that view a universe of its own. Beautiful. Your recent uploads are one jewel after the next & I hope you never run out of Chicago shots, they've all been a joy; and judging from what others feel, it's not because I'm from chicago, but because of what you brought to chicago, or better maybe, what you brought out of chicago, which for me, a forever-resident of this place, is a real gift.

super looking

Beautifully captured and tones to go with the great angles

The placement seems odd. You have to climb out the top of the window. Reminds me of the one that was outside my grandmother's bedroom window. My mother used to sit out on the fire escape on hot summer nights when she was a girl. I'm with Andrea. You've turned something mundane into art.

You wouldn't want to be in a hurry to get to the bottom. Lovely colouring in this capture.

I love the soft glow what makes a steps stands out more.

The diffused glow works well! Cheers, Clive

Fire escapes are so moody and stronger than they look...I suspect that if the building collapsed, the fire escape would still be standing...they can support the weight of the entire building, but you can move them easily (the pivot parts) with the weight of a child. The lower-most rung of stairs is always suspended one story above ground level to keep burglars and vandals from entering the upper floors of the buildings while also allowing a single child to walk down safely. Okay, aside from all of that...this is gorgeous. Your treatment of it is so seamless and subtle. There's post work, sure, but the original photograph is astonishingly seen and captured, and I can see so much here. You're a visual poet, you know, and that's always the thing that draws me into your gallery, that and your images are always so darn good! I love this!

The never ending stair....I love that image. Great shot.

Beautiful capture; the composition highlights the angles, and while these are meant to go down they only seem to have an upward lift, if you can see what I'm saying...Very well done!

this is so cool warm hugs, Linda Kaye