PDA

View Full Version : The Chicago River 1999-2010 Exhibit



Richard Wasserman
27-Feb-2011, 17:22
I have an exhibit of 28 images from MIDSTREAM: The Chicago River 1999-2010 at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State Street, Chicago until September 2.

http://www.chipublib.org/branch/details/library/harold-washington/p/Exhibits/

I hope you will all stop by.

Roger Thoms
27-Feb-2011, 17:49
Congratulations on your exhibit. Checked out the images on your website, very nice.

Roger

Steve Sherman
27-Feb-2011, 17:57
Congrats Richard on your exhibit, wish it was closer.

Sanjay Sen
27-Feb-2011, 19:03
Congratulations, Richard! If I make a trip to the Chicago area, I will definitely stop by at the show. I saw your images in VC magazine - lovely work.

BarryS
27-Feb-2011, 19:28
Congratulations! I'll swing by the next time I'm back in Chicago this summer.

David Karp
27-Feb-2011, 22:12
Congratulations Richard.

Kirk Gittings
27-Feb-2011, 22:16
Good for you Richard.

Richard Wasserman
28-Feb-2011, 09:11
Thanks everyone!

Kirk Gittings
28-Feb-2011, 10:11
How long is it going to be up?

Richard Wasserman
28-Feb-2011, 10:20
How long is it going to be up?


Until September 2. Will you be here this summer?

Daniel Grenier
28-Feb-2011, 10:21
If you're nearby, don't miss it.

I am not "nearby", and can't make this show but I have seen Richard's work first-hand in Pennsylvania several years back.

Really solid photography, this. Go see it.

Henry Ambrose
28-Feb-2011, 10:28
I very likely will be in Chicago this summer and I will make it a point to see your show.

Kirk Gittings
28-Feb-2011, 11:03
Until September 2. Will you be here this summer?

I'm teaching there every other summer these days-being away two months is getting too hard on my wife. But I am going out there to pick up a 7600. I will give you a call.

chris_4622
28-Feb-2011, 11:49
Richard,

My gf showed me the announcement in the paper over the weekend, we will be going to see it soon.

Congratulations.

chris

John Jarosz
3-Mar-2011, 14:40
Took a walk to the Library to see your exhibit. Nicely done.

My only complaint is that the images would benefit from better lighting.

Did you print these yourself? What kind are they?

Will your book contain additional images?

john

Richard Wasserman
3-Mar-2011, 15:41
Took a walk to the Library to see your exhibit. Nicely done.

My only complaint is that the images would benefit from better lighting.

Did you print these yourself? What kind are they?

Will your book contain additional images?

john


John,

I'm glad you were able to stop by. I agree about the lighting... The prints are inkjets that the library did themselves using scans I provided. I was hoping that I would be able to have my own prints made, but I could not convince them to spend the money. This is the first exhibit they have done using material that is not from their own collections, and they seem to be feeling their way.

My book which will be out very early next year will have over 100 images in it. It will also have quite an interesting essay written by a woman who is an archivist here in Chicago who has written a couple books of her own.

John Jarosz
4-Mar-2011, 10:15
These kinds of photos are important documents in the history of an area. I know many photographers feel the HABS/HAER work is rigid and boring but how else does anyone visually document a location for use by others?

Richard, you, myself, and my Dad probably stood at the same location to take the photo of Wolf Point with the Kinzie railroad bridge. My Dad's photo was taken around 1978 and the change in the area is amazing. I found it going thru his stuff. Searching on the net, I cannot find any vintage images of this view, yet it's historically a famous Chicago location. The 'feel' of a location can only come from an image. That's why collections like yours are so cool, because it's easy to step into the environment. Future observers will be indebted to your (and others like you) efforts at documenting the urban scene.

john

Richard Wasserman
6-Mar-2011, 09:36
John,

Thank you for your kind words. The changes that have taken place along the river, and elsewhere in Chicago are astounding. They are one of the principal reasons I began this project. I have always had a great deal of interest and affection for the city before it became gentrified—it was brawny and dirtier, its rough edges were much more visible, and was full of possibilities. I wanted, actually needed, to document it before all the vestiges of this past disappeared and were covered up by a shiny new city.







These kinds of photos are important documents in the history of an area. I know many photographers feel the HABS/HAER work is rigid and boring but how else does anyone visually document a location for use by others?

Richard, you, myself, and my Dad probably stood at the same location to take the photo of Wolf Point with the Kinzie railroad bridge. My Dad's photo was taken around 1978 and the change in the area is amazing. I found it going thru his stuff. Searching on the net, I cannot find any vintage images of this view, yet it's historically a famous Chicago location. The 'feel' of a location can only come from an image. That's why collections like yours are so cool, because it's easy to step into the environment. Future observers will be indebted to your (and others like you) efforts at documenting the urban scene.

john