One of the best places to visit in Chicago is the Museum Of Contemporary Photography. Columbia College Chicago founded the museum in 1984 as a junior of Chicago Centre for Contemporary Photography. The museum holds regular exhibitions and educative programs on contemporary photography to spread awareness on the subject. Local, national, and even international institutions, communities and widely known artists form part of the museum family. It is Midwest’s leading museum in photography with its technology and other facilities, enabling the students and the instructors at the museum learn things much better at the stud centre. The audience can enjoy a refined view of the photographs at the exhibit.
Museum Of Contemporary Photography is a very inspiring and pioneering initiative in terms of self expressing through the lens and showing the world one’s own paradigm and presenting the natural in a digital way. The museum is also recognized by the American Association of Museums. The museum encourages promoting the present cultural, political, social, and artistic world-wide picture via the lens of the extremely talented and well known photographers. The museum realizes its social responsibility towards the community and lives up to the best in it.
The museum encourages new talents and is in a steady search for them, at the same time living up to its name duly with the traditional photographs. The museum offers free entry to all and is a very entertaining and learning experience.
History Of Museum Of Contemporary Photography
The Museum Of Contemporary Photography was found by Columbia College Chicago in 19884 as a junior heir to the Chicago Centre for Contemporary Photography found in 1976. The Board of Directors of the Columbia College Chicago does not constitute the advisory body of the Museum Of Contemporary Photography. With some of the members of the founding committee still in good health and actively attached to the museum and forming the pillars of the advisory committee along with a panel of noted artists and photographers. The museum is relatively nascent but the short history that it has lived is noteworthy for its association with the best contemporary photographers and the thought of society’s well being.
Collections At Museum Of Contemporary Photography
The Museum Of Contemporary Photography houses a wide range of photographs reflecting the diverse paradigm in regional, national, and international field of the photography art. The museum is surely a house of unity among diversity in the lens culture.
The most popular photographs of the exquisite collection are Desert Blast Series by Roberts, Simon; Anna and Virginia by Mann, Sally; Recession by Schneider, Carrie, and The Perfect Tomato by Mann, Sally, among others.
- Permanent Collection : The Permanent Collection of Museum Of Contemporary Photography is a prized bunch. The collection houses over 9000 photographs by over 1000 renowned photographers and a grand compilation of the photography art related devices and objects manufactured dating back to 1936 till date. The collection features the beautiful works by Berenice Abbott, Vito Acconci, Marina Abramovic, Robert Adams, Diane Arbus, Ruth Bernhard, Dawoud Bey, Tina Barney, Oliver Boberg, Whitney Bradshaw, Marilyn Bridges, Nancy Burson, Ellen Carey, Susan Carr, and many more extremely talented lens artists.
To find more on the Permanent Collection of the museum and the photographers and view the photo gallery please log into the official site of the museum.
- Midwest Photographers Project : The Midwest Photographers Project is a dynamic room for the photographers from Midwest, where the collection keeps rotating. The project was introduced in 1982 to make room for the most eminent photographers from the region. The project also houses the works in frame of aspiring new talents. The project houses over 1000 photographs by more than 75 talents. Each photograph is lent to the museum for a 2year period. Lens artists from Wisconsin, Ohio, Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois contribute exhibiting their magnificent lens concepts on diverse range of style, subject, and every aspect of photography. Every month new photographs are being rotated in the project.
Photographers like Jane Fulton Alt, Jill Frank, Evan Baden, Tom Bamberger, Julie Blackmon, Priscilla Briggs, Kelli Connell, Paul D’Amato, Beth Dow, and many more have lent their lens works framed to the museum currently. To know more on the photographers, their displays, and to view the photographs please log in to the official website of the museum.
Other Facilities Of The Museum Of Contemporary Photography
Apart from exhibitions and sales of the legendary photographs the museum also provides some extra toppings in house.
• Shop At Museum Of contemporary Photography
The museum provides an on-line shop for the photographs to be sold and also the publication. The orders and queries regarding the photographs and publications can be enquired over phone from Monday to Friday within 9am and 5pm.
Shop Enquiry Phone No: 312-369-7794
• Education Provided By Museum Of Contemporary Photography
The museum intends to make the society and community aware of the social, political, and artistic picture of the present world. Many after school educational programs are being organized by the museum in different high schools of Chicago and being with the Columbia College the teens of Chicago are also taken in account, as they say youth are the face of the society. Programs are also being arranged for customized viewing of the photographs from the Midwest Photographers Project and the Permanent Collection of the museum.
For further information on the educative programs of the Museum Of Contemporary Photography please log into the official website of the museum.
Museum Of Contemporary Photography Operating Hours
Museum Of Contemporary Photography is free for all. The visiting hours for people from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are 10am to 5pm. On Thursdays the museum is open from 10am to 8pm. On Sundays the museum is open to all from 12noon to 5pm.
Museum Of Contemporary Photography does not operate on the days off for the Columbia College Chicago. The museum however does not also operates on public holidays like June 30th the Memorial Day, July 4th the Independence Day, September 5th the Labor Day, and November 24th – 27th for the Thanksgiving Day period.
Please check with the official website of the Museum Of Contemporary Photography for any changes in the operating hour schedule before visiting the museum.
Contact Details
Address: Museum Of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago.
600 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois – 60605.
Phone: 312-663-5554
Office Phone: 312-369-7104
Fax: 312-369-8067
Website: www.mocp.org
E-mail: mocp@colum.edu

