When Chicago-based photographer Allen Bourgeois is not shooting professionally he is working on the streets with his Leica. His professional work feeds the family, with the majority of that work being health-care related. But it is definitely his personal work which is his passion, and that is what feeds his soul.

His influences range from Harry Callahan to Garry Winogrand, with Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Frank perhaps being the most notable. Allen’s street work has also taken a more serious direction since picking up a Leica M Monochrom a couple of years ago. “It’s a camera that just gets out of the way.”

His new book, Streets, Alleys and Other Urban Observations, has just been released and is available at the gallery.