Hugh Celander, a native of South Shore, was a practicing attorney when, in 1951, he decided to leave the profession and pursue photography. When he opened his studio on 79th street his intention was to focus on legal photography. While much of his work consisted of evidence for court proceedings, he also covered the local police beat and his business gradually veered toward portraiture and candid photography for area residents.

Over the years, Celander Studio would generate more than 13,000 negatives, representing everything from weddings and anniversaries to murder and mayhem—with South Shore and the surrounding city as a backdrop. Chicago's South Shore provides a glimpse of early area photographs restored by the studio, as well as many views of the area from the 50s and 60s.

In the early nineties, Hugh Celander was diagnosed with an Altzheimers type dementia. Spending his last year in a Veterans home, Hugh passed away in November, 1999. He left behind a photographic legacy: evidence of a neighborhood and the people who lived in it.