50% Grey at the Museum of Contemporary Photography

Hi, I’m Leif, a student of the A.P. Photography Program at Gallery 37. On March 4th, we visited the Museum of Contemporary Photography, owned and operated by Chicago’s Columbia College. We viewed a collection of images from both contemporary Czech photographers, as well as images donated by the Baruch Foundation. Many of these images faced danger of destruction in the late 60’s due to the Soviets who invaded Czechoslovakia, where they attempted to “normalize” the country, destroying many works of art in the process. Art dealer Jacques Baruch and his wife managed to save many pieces which we were fortunate enough to be able to see. The photographs in the contemporary section tended to concentrate on more simple subject matter, while the images from the Baruch Foundation tended to be more surreal and in my opinion, interesting.

Of the many interesting photos we viewed, one of my favorites was “Hand with Watch,” a gelatin silver print by photographer Emila Medkova:



The image has a cracked egg in a holder nestled in a nook and a large piece of bark, as well as a hand with a watch in the palm emerging from the top of a gap. The ragged, cracked texture of the bark alone matched with the interesting cream colored tone of the print serves as an interesting photograph in and of itself, not unlike something we might expect to see in the contemporary exhibit. The hand is nestled in a break in the bark, which provides a three-sided frame to this strange hand holding a watch. The watch looks more like an eye, peering at the viewer and warping reality. The egg in the holder matches the hand in both juxtaposition and composition, effectively creating a visually interesting, and conceptually stimulating image.

In the Vernacular

Hello, my name is Bethany. I am in the AAEP photography class at Gallery 37. On Monday, February 22, 2010 we went to the Art Institute of Chicago and saw the exhibition, In the Vernacular. This exhibition featured pieces from many artists including but not limited to Walker Evans, Andy Warhol, Lee Friedlander, Cindy Sherman, Martin Parr, Nikki S. Lee and Garry Winogrand. Vernacular photographs are photographs pertaining to a specific period of time, type of people or place. One of the pieces we saw was titled, “Lee and Maria Friedlander. Cannon Beach, Oregon” by Lee Friedlander, it was taken in 1997 and is a gelatin silver print:



One specific thing that interested me about this photograph was that the photographer himself is indeed taking the picture; however, he is not looking at the camera. His wife is though. The background is also rather eye-catching; there is a beach and mountain along the left side of the frame and the inland coast on the right, giving off a nice mood for the viewer. I myself felt calmer just seeing a beach. And last but not least, while the overall tone of the picture is flat, the blacks are rich and the highlights very detailed, it is very well printed.

Hello, I'm Deja. I really liked this image by Garry Winogrand:



It's a moment of action caught. Football players leaping, running, are scattering about. The referee stands on the sideline ready to call a penalty. A packed audience watches with anticipation and excitement. This climatic photo is dramatized even more by the angle it is captured at. Because the photo is in black and white it enhances the intensity of the picture. Texture is everywhere, from the tarp of the field to the full crowd in the stadium seats. Tones and shades of the rich black, white, and grey vary. The whites and light grays contrasts with the dark grays and blacks. Horizontal and vertical lines dance around the image helping balance the space, while filling it. Motion throughout the photograph creates a powerful rhythm and flow.

Trip to the Cultural Center

Last week the group went across the street to see the Barbara Crane retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center. Sannya Munir, a student in AP photography, recounts our time there:

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. When you look at a picture you only see some of the words. Others viewing the same picture might see the other words. And some words are yet still hidden. When our class visited the Cultural Center’s exhibit on Barbara Crane titled Challenging Vision, our vision was definitely challenged. Crane has an ability to create different styles of images, and she can force viewers to compare the different in the same light.

Crane is “someone who is very curious about photography,” remarked Bill, our instructor. After viewing the exhibit, I believe that Bill’s statement is true. She used Polaroid, film, and digital cameras; and experimented with fish-eye lens, sandwiched negatives, and double exposures. Here is an example of her ability to experiment:



There was a picture of a dead bird. It didn’t make the bird pretty or anything; it was more about the study of the physical characteristics. This picture was in a series that Crane did, in which she captures the “beauty” of death. Here is an example from that series:



This was a fun field trip. We learned a lot about the different processes of developing/making pictures.

Field Trip to Museum of Contemporary Photography

On Friday, October 2nd, the AP photography group from AAEP took a field trip to the Museum of Contemporary Photography.


Photograph by Dolly Rivera


Photograph by Dolly Rivera

Once we arrived, a member of the museum staff pulled out some original photographic prints from their collection:


Photograph by Dolly Rivera

Sannya Munir, a student from Jones College Prep, shares her thoughts:

The artist that struck out the most was Robert Mapplethorpe. We saw two of his photos, and both were entitled self-portraits. The first one was of his face, in which he was wearing make-up:


Photograph by Robert Mapplethorpe


It was from that picture that we learned about gaze. Gaze means where the person is looking at. It also refers to where the person viewing the picture first looks. The other Mapplethorpe picture was a Polaroid, of his hand on his bed. In my opinion that was the best picture we saw. It was beautifully put together, and had great form.


AP Photography class outside the MOCP at Columbia College Chicago