Alley, Chicago
Maker
Harry Callahan
(American, 1912 - 1999)
Date1948
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 9 1/4 × 6 7/8 in. (23.5 × 17.5 cm)
Sheet: 9 3/4 × 7 3/4 in. (24.8 × 19.7 cm)
Mounting: 10 1/2 × 7 3/4 in. (26.7 × 19.7 cm)
Sheet: 9 3/4 × 7 3/4 in. (24.8 × 19.7 cm)
Mounting: 10 1/2 × 7 3/4 in. (26.7 × 19.7 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Estate of Lester and Betty Guttman
Collections
Object number2014.195
Status
Not on viewOne of the most influential photographers at the Chicago Institute of Design, Harry Callahan was critical of his own works. Of the many negatives he exposed, only a handful were deemed acceptable for printing. He experimented with a wide variety of photographic subjects, materials, and methods; he photographed people, buildings, and landscapes with both 35-mm and 8x10 formats in black and white and in color. He also used a variety of processes, including multiple exposure, montage, and collage. This photograph is a multiple exposure, made by repeatedly exposing the same piece of film while aiming his camera at a lighted sidewalk at the end of a darkened alley. The stark tonal contrast typifies his work and serves to reinforce his view of the city as a tense and inhospitable environment.
