With her Nikon in hand, Kogen photographed places and people on the street in various locations where she traveled, shooting 35 mm black and white film, then processing the film and making darkroom prints. Here, a man reads a newspaper in Florence, Italy.
Striking black and white photographs captured by Ann Kogen taken on the streets of cities ranging from Chicago to Cairo in the early 1980s will be on view in the exhibit “STREET” at Dittmar Gallery Oct. 2 through Dec. 3.
After picking up a Nikon FM camera and black and white Tri-X film in the summer of 1980, Kogen began documenting the movements and diversity of people on the street. Drawn to the immediacy of street photography and a medium that would allow her to express her lifelong curiosity about people, culture and society, Kogen captured the beauty, chaos and nuances of everyday life in public spaces through her lens.
Dittmar will host a reception with Kogen at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2
“Kogen’s timeless photographs evoke a sense of common humanity and focus the lens on the shared universal qualities of humans regardless of their many differences,” according to the Dittmar Gallery exhibition statement.
After picking up a Nikon FM camera and black and white Tri-X film in the summer of 1980, Evanston native Ann Kogen began documenting the movements and diversity of people on the street.
Holding a moment long after it has passed
Kogen, a native of Evanston, has been a lifelong photographer. In the early 1980s, she was influenced by photographers of the time including Gary Winogrand, Elliot Erwitt and Mary Ellen Mark, as well as Works Progress Administration documentary photographers of the mid-1930s.
With her Nikon in hand, she photographed places and people on the street in various locations where she traveled, shooting 35 mm black and white film, then processing the film and making darkroom prints. Kogen prefers to work in series, following an idea or subject to guide her image making. Her body of photographic work includes a variety of approaches, including documentary, portrait, abstract and collage.
“Photography is a kind of magic that helps us to enter the past,” Kogen said. “It allows one to capture the moment, defying the passage of time, to hold a moment long after it has passed.”
Dittmar Gallery is located on the first floor of the Norris University Center at 1999 Campus Drive on Northwestern’s Evanston campus.
