An old-school street photographer, based in Chicago and in love with its bittersweet ironies, Jon Fjortoft is equally at home in the stark industrial parks in the ‘burbs and the teeming avenues of the Loop. Shooting in black-and-white, Fjortoft shows his talent for evoking emotion in his moody gray studies of long low-rise warehouses, factories and offices that sprouted up in and around Chicago after World War II and were the essence of inelegant stripped-down form following function. Unlike Bob Thall’s famous series on the antiseptic commercial parks of Schaumburg, Fjortoft’s suburban studies do not radiate the feelings of the lonely existentialist in a technocratic landscape, but, instead, draw us into intimacy with humble utilitarian structures that our vision dominates. The images are small, the buildings are often set in landscaped or snow-covered foregrounds, and they are all too familiar—items in our world that never threaten to engulf us. (Michael Weinstein)
Through June 27 at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington
Related Stories
Fleeing Desperation: A Review of Ada Trillo at Chicago Center for Photojournalism In this heartbreaking yet visually beautiful exhibition, Ada Trillo implicates herself within her subjects to shine a light on both the hope and the hopelessness of their lives. If you are not moved by these images, surely your heart is made of stone.
The Roots of Pride: A Review of Jerry Pritikin at The Chicago Center for Photojournalism The show “When Then Was Now” gives a glimpse of early LGBTQ+ life in San Francisco—Harvey Milk became mayor and gay activism was gaining momentum. Pritikin, a legend of reportage, takes us back to a time before AIDS reared its ugly head and shows us how the movement looked all those decades ago.
Home Is Where the Family Is: A Review of Chicago Chiquito at Bridgeport Art Center This small but significant exhibition shows the history of Chicago Chiquito, or little Chicago, the nickname given to La Hacienda, a small town in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. Its families have migrated north to find work for over one hundred years.
RECOMMENDED
