UPTOWN, EDGEWATER, ROGERS PARK
Chicago Center For Photojournalism Opens In Uptown, Hosting Exhibits And Classes On An Art Form In Peril
"There's no place like this, outside a university, that teaches photojournalism," founder Denise Keim said.
blockclubchicago.org/author/joe-ward
Joe Ward
8:06 AM CDT on Jun 20, 2023
UPTOWN — A storefront gallery in Uptown is bringing the endangered craft of photojournalism to the masses.
The Chicago Center For Photojournalism, 1226 W. Wilson Ave., held its debut exhibit in March featuring the work of local photographer Yvette Marie Dostatni.
The photojournalism center is now rolling out programs to recognize the profession’s importance and help spread the art form at a time when it is in flux, said Denise Keim, the center’s founder and program director.
The center is free and open to the public. Like the rest of the media industry, photojournalists have been subject to layoffs en masse as newsrooms struggled to adapt to a digital landscape. The ranks of news photographers and photojournalists across the country declined by 43 percent between 2000 and 2013, according to Pew Research.
……Through exhibits, classes, after-school programs and even building a dark room for film production, the Chicago Center For Journalism is hoping to preserve the art form for generations to come, Keim said. “Photojournalism really needs our support,” she said. “They wiped out whole departments of photojournalists across the country and blamed it on digital.” The gallery has been embraced by by neighbors, including Wayne Wu, who has stopped in multiple times and was the first person to sit and read in the space, Wu and Keim said. “I stop by almost weekly,” Wu said.
Neighbors have brought cameras, books and vintage magazines to donate to the center. Some have slipped notes of encouragement under the door. “It’s unbelievable,” Keim said. “There’s a community [for this]. People just come in and thank me for being here.”
The Chicago Center for Photojournalism is open noon-6 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 2-7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. For more on its classes and programs, click here.
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