“Captured Earth” featuring PENELOPE UMBRICO on view now at The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP)

“Captured Earth,” now on view at The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP), features artists who use natural elements in photography and installation to explore place, ecology, and the mystical qualities of the land. The exhibition includes works by renowned artist PENELOPE UMBRICO, among others.

From site-specific performances to experimental process-based pieces, the depictions in “Captured Earth” showcase the various ways artists connect with and express the significance of the natural world. For example, Tarrah Krajnak documents her nature-centered rituals using rocks and plant materials, while Alan Cohen shares his meditative walks through landscapes. Jeremy Bolen develops photographs from film submerged in a polluted river, and Barbara Crane captures the bark of trees at her Michigan cabin retreat. Penelope Umbrico’s “8,146,774 Suns From Flickr (Partial) 9/10/10” (above) assembles thousands of photos of sunsets found on a photo sharing website, highlighting humanity’s universal fascination with the sun.

The exhibition also includes works by Karl Blossfeldt, Antonia Contro with sound design by Lou Mallozzi, Whit Forrester, Bertha E. Jaques, Dakota Mace, Robert Mapplethorpe, Byung-Hun Min, Liza Nguyen, Martha Madigan, John Opera, Eliot Porter, Meghann Riepenhoff, Rachel Sussman, and Kristin Taylor. According to Taylor, the curator, the majority of these works are from the MoCP permanent collection and highlight the experimental, camera-less abilities of photography to encourage a deeper connection with nature.

In a podcast related to the exhibition, curator Kristin Taylor speaks with artists Meghann Riepenhoff and Penelope Umbrico about their backgrounds and the importance of pushing the boundaries of documentary photography. They also discuss the work of Alison Rossiter and Joanne Leonard. You can listen to the podcast at the link below: https://bit.ly/4fCEzzx

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