Chicago Photographers: Remix Sports Media Wants to Tell the Bulls' Untold Stories

Chicago Photographers: Remix Sports Media Wants to Tell the Bulls' Untold Stories

Chicago has always been more than a basketball city. It's a basketball state of mind. From the packed bleachers at United Center to the gravel courts in Marquette Park and the lakeshore runs in Humboldt, this city breathes the game. Remix Sports Media is here because Chicago's basketball story doesn't begin and end with the box score — and we need the right photographers to help us tell the chapters in between.

We are building a national creator network to capture original basketball content in NBA markets across the country. Today, we're opening the door to Chicago-based photographers who have an eye for culture, community, and the raw emotion that makes this city's relationship with basketball unlike anywhere else on earth.

The Content We Want to Create in Chicago

Remix Sports Media produces original sports content that goes beyond game highlights. In Chicago, that means exploring what basketball means to the neighborhoods, the generations, and the communities that have shaped the sport's culture for decades. We are specifically looking for photo-driven stories across formats including:

• Street-ball culture on Chicago's South and West Side courts — capturing the pickup game moments, the community figures, and the local legends who never made the NBA but define the game in their block.

• Fan culture around Bulls game days — from the pregame energy in the parking lots and sports bars to the group watch parties across neighborhoods that don't have easy access to United Center.

• Youth basketball and community programming — AAU tournaments, school championship games, rec center leagues, and the coaches and mentors making a difference.

• Chicago's basketball history in the present tense — barbershops, murals, sneaker culture, and how the Bulls' legacy lives on in everyday life across the city.

• Community events where basketball intersects with art, music, and civic life — charity games, neighborhood tournaments, and cultural crossover moments.

These are the stories that resonate with local fans and reach audiences nationwide. Great photography is what makes them stick.

Who We Want to Meet

We're looking for Chicago-based photographers who are genuinely connected to this city and its basketball community. You don't need to have shot for a major publication to apply — but you do need to have a distinctive eye and a real feel for Chicago's energy. Our ideal collaborators include:

• Photographers who already document local sports scenes, street culture, or community events in Chicago

• Creatives who understand both action photography and portrait/documentary storytelling

• Social media photographers and content creators with an engaged audience in Chicago sports or culture

• Freelancers and independent creators looking for a platform to publish original work with a growing national sports media brand

• Photographers who are Bulls fans or are deeply embedded in Chicago's basketball culture and want their work to reflect that passion

If you have been shooting Chicago streets and courts for your own love of the game, this is the opportunity to bring that work to a wider audience.

Original Chicago Story Ideas We Love

Not sure what kind of content fits? Here are examples of the specific photo stories we'd love to see a Chicago photographer bring to life:

• "The Courts" — a photo essay documenting the outdoor basketball courts across Chicago's 77 neighborhoods, the players who run them, and the stories behind each court's identity.

• Bulls Watch Party Culture — portraits and crowd photography from fan gatherings at Chicago bars and community centers on game nights.

• The Jordan Era Lives On — documenting how Jordan's legacy is preserved in Chicago through murals, memorabilia, sneaker culture, and the oral traditions passed from parents to kids.

• Next Gen Chicago — shooting AAU tournaments and high school basketball in Cook County, highlighting the young talent competing for college scholarships and professional dreams.

• Game Day in the Neighborhoods — a visual diary of one Bulls home game as experienced from the city itself: barbershop pregame discussions, food spots near the United Center, and fans celebrating in their own communities after the final buzzer.

These are suggestions, not requirements. We want to hear your ideas. The best applications will bring a story concept that only someone who truly knows Chicago basketball culture could pitch.

How to Apply

Ready to bring your Chicago basketball photography to a national audience? Visit our creator application page and tell us who you are, what you shoot, and what story you would love to tell.

Want to create basketball content in Chicago? Apply to join Remix Sports Media's creator network and share your portfolio, social handles, and one local story you would love to tell.

In your application, please include:

• A link to your photography portfolio or website

• Your Instagram or social media handles where we can see your work

• Your general availability (weekdays, weekends, game nights)

• One original story idea you would want to shoot in Chicago — the more specific and city-rooted, the better

  
  

We review every application personally and respond to those whose vision aligns with our editorial direction. There is no deadline — we are actively building our Chicago creator roster now.

Chicago, The Camera Is Yours

No city in America has a deeper, more layered relationship with basketball than Chicago. From the playgrounds of Englewood to the championship banners at the United Center, this city's basketball story is ongoing — and most of it has never been properly photographed for a national audience. That's the opportunity here.

Remix Sports Media is building something real: a creator network of local voices who know their cities and can document them with authenticity. If Chicago basketball culture is something you live and breathe, we want to work with you.

Submit your portfolio and story ideas at our Chicago basketball photographer application page. The court is open.