Corporate photography at theMART
4.2 million square feet on the north bank of the river, across two city blocks. A suite number matters more than a floor number here, and the right entrance is half the schedule.
theMART, long known as the Merchandise Mart, is the 25 story building at 222 West Merchandise Mart Plaza on the north bank of the Chicago River in River North. At 4.2 million gross square feet across two city blocks it is the largest privately held commercial building in the United States, which is a fact with practical consequences on a shoot day. The floor plates are enormous and the distances inside them are real, so a suite number matters more here than a floor number, and the walk from the right entrance to the right elevator is part of the schedule rather than an afterthought.
The building names a tenant roster that runs from consumer goods to technology. Conagra Brands is headquartered here in Suite 1300. Motorola Mobility completed its move in from Libertyville in April 2014. Yelp, PayPal, Allstate, Beam Suntory and Grainger are listed alongside them, and MATTER operates here as well. That is a wider spread of sectors under one roof than most towers hold, and a production day here can serve two unrelated teams.
Ask your office manager which entrance and which elevator bank serves your suite, and put that in the calendar invite for everyone being photographed. Dock hours, freight access and any certificate of insurance requirement go through building management, and a footprint this size runs a busy dock, so settle all three the week before. Once the kit is on your floor it stays there, and we bring people to the room rather than moving lights across a plate this large. A conference room with a window wall is the first choice if your suite has one.
We photograph on site, in your own office. If your team is in this building, the notes below are what the day looks like. Nothing here is a claim to a past session in it, and no tenant named is a client unless it says so elsewhere on this site.
Sample work, photographed at other clients' offices rather than in this building. It is the standard a session here would be held to.
- Size
- 4.2 million gross square feet
- Footprint
- Two city blocks, 25 stories
- Distinction
- Largest privately held commercial building in the United States
- Location
- 222 West Merchandise Mart Plaza, north bank of the river
- Headquarters here
- Conagra Brands, Suite 1300
- Tenant mix
- Consumer goods, technology, insurance, industrial distribution
Working in theMART
The practical side of a shoot in this building, so the day runs on schedule.
Find the right door
Two city blocks of frontage means several entrances and several elevator banks. We confirm which one serves your suite before the date and it goes in the invite, so nobody spends their slot walking the wrong corridor.
Dock and freight
A building of this size runs a busy dock. Confirm the dock window, the certificate of insurance and the freight elevator with building management the week before. The setup arrives on one cart.
One room, people come to it
On a floor plate this large we do not move the lights. A conference room of roughly ten feet by eight with a wall outlet is enough, and the schedule brings people to it in small groups.
Daylight at the perimeter
River frontage means perimeter rooms can have real daylight while interior rooms have none. Ask your office manager which rooms have windows, and we will meter what the glass gives us on arrival.
Two teams, one day
The tenant roster here spans unrelated sectors, so a day is sometimes shared between two companies on different floors. It runs as one booking with one setup standard for both.
Film without a second visit
Brand film, recruiting pieces and an executive interview all sit inside a portrait day here. The suite is already cleared and the lights are already up, so the footage and the stills come off one booking.
What we make for theMART teams
A headshot program is usually the first project. It is rarely the only one, and the same photographer handles the rest.
Corporate headshot programs
Whole teams photographed in one or two days, to one standard that holds as people join and leave.
See headshot programsExecutive portraits
Leadership portraits with the weight the business expects, for annual reports, press and the board page.
See executive portraitsBrand films and campaign video
Directed, filmed and edited by one person, from the first scope conversation through final delivery.
See brand film workRecruiting and employer brand
Culture photography and video made in the building people would actually work in, for careers pages and hiring campaigns.
See recruiting workCommercial and facility photography
A marketing team's image library for the year, so the next campaign does not start with a stock search.
See commercial workConference and event coverage
Sessions, keynotes, booths and headshot stations, photographed and filmed in the same visit.
See event coverageHeadshots are often one piece of a larger photo library. The same visit can also cover leadership portraits, recruiting content, workplace photography, video, or event coverage, and when one photographer handles all of it, the library looks like it came from one company.
See how the full engagement workstheMART questions
What teams in this building usually ask first.
Which entrance should we tell people to use?
Do you need a window?
Can you photograph two companies here on the same day?
Our suite is a long walk from the elevator. Does that matter?
Can you match the portraits our other offices already use?
What is the lead time?
Other buildings in this district
Your team is in theMART?
Tell me the headcount, the floor and the dates. A proposal follows a short conversation, and questions are answered within one business day.