Shooting in black and white with a 35mm camera, John Sevigny—although he has been producing his documentaries and poetic studies of Mexico and Mexicans in the twenty-first century—is a throwback to the street photographers of seventy or more years ago in both style and subject. If one were to go by Sevigny’s images of a beaming accordion player in a sombrero, down-and-out bar girls in Guadalajara, coils of rough rope, and bedraggled migrants making their way from Central America to the United States, one would have no idea of the cosmopolitan Mexico of today, with its vibrant middle class, billionaires, drug lords and a dizzying array of sub-cultures; or of the changes in photography that have accompanied globalization everywhere. No doubt that everything Sevigny shows us is part of the contemporary Mexican scene, and that he depicts it well in the now-classical modern fashion; but it hardly takes up as much of the current human landscape as it did when the 35mm reigned supreme. It is ironic that the revolutionary realism of the last century now appears to be aestheticized ancient history, despite its persistence. (Michael Weinstein)
Through November 4 at the Chicago Photography Center, 3301 North Lincoln
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.
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.
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.
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