Description:

On view October 2 - December 3, 2025

In the summer of 1980, Ann Kogen bought a Nikon FM camera, some black and white Tri-X film, and stepped into the world of photography. Encouraged by her photographer friend, she learned the techniques of photography, studied photographers, and experimented with various kinds of cameras. Photography provided a medium that would allow Ann to express her lifelong curiosity about people, culture, and society. Drawn to the immediacy of street photography, she began to document the movements and diversity of people on the street. Through her lens, she captured the beauty, chaos, and nuances of everyday life in public spaces.

STREET takes viewers back in time through a series of candid street photographs that capture varied aspects of humanity and society in the early 1980s. Striking black and white photographs showcase people on the street, chance encounters, reflections from store windows, graphic walls, and signage. Captured on the streets of many cities from Chicago, Illinois, to Cairo, Egypt, the timeless quality of the photographs evokes a sense of common humanity, focusing the lens on the shared universal qualities of humans regardless of their many differences. STREET provides engaging images that invite viewers to reflect on the ways photography shapes our understanding of public spaces and the stories embedded within them.