Belgian photographer Claude Andreini’s black-and-white small-format studies of the Nazi death camps of Auschwitz and Terezin are meant to renew memories of the Holocaust, yet—more than anything—they evoke the quietude and loneliness of derelict institutional spaces of any kind that, in this case, have been kept intact frozen in time, stripped and bare. Often shot at dusk or in the dead of night, always shadowed and often dimmed, and usually empty but sometimes including a solitary walker, Andreini’s images are reposeful and contemplative, not horrifying, even when they depict guard towers. We need to know what happened at these sites for Andreini’s photographs to incite remembrance; if we do not, we are moved to think of life that has departed, leaving its shell behind, rather than death. A sense of peace permeates Andreini’s images—the peace that inheres underneath and that surrounds human desires and deeds, for good or ill. (Michael Weinstein)
Through June 3 at the Chicago Photography Center, 3301 North Lincoln
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.
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.
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