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Harry Callahan was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. He purchased his first camera in 1938 and joined the camera club at Chrysler Motors, where he worked. Strongly influenced by a 1941 lecture and workshop given by Ansel Adams, Callahan traded his enlarger for an 8 x 10 view camera. In 1946 Callahan was hired by Liszl— Moholy-Nagy to teach photography at the Institute of Design in Chicago. He taught at the Institute until 1961, at which time he left for the Rhode Island School of Design, where he taught until his retirement in 1977. Throughout his career, Callahan explored a number of different subjects. Landscapes, city streets and pedestrians, and portraits of his wife, Eleanor, received much of Callahan's attention over the years. With a characteristic sharpness and a strong sense of design, Callahan is known for his ability to transform his subjects into arresting compositions of simplicity and grace. Bib. Ref: Harry Callahan. Sarah Greenough. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1996. The Eastman House holds 91 photographs spanning much of Callahan's career, though over 70 of these photographs were made in the 1950s and 60s. The 1940s are represented by 11 photographs (the earliest from 1941) and the 1970s represented by 7 photographs (the latest from 1974). Callahan's photographs of cities, both domestic and foreign, as well as pedestrians comprise the bulk of the collection (60 photographs), with 25 of these made in Chicago. Eleanor, CallahanŐs wife, is pictured in 9 photographs, two of these with their daughter, Barbara. Landscapes and Callahan's familiar nature studies are represented by 13 photographs. His experimental multiple exposure work is represented in another 5 photographs. The collection was formed from various sources. Purchases from both Harry Callahan and Light Gallery make up over half of the collection. The remainder of the photographs came from a variety of sources, including Rhode Island School of Design student portfolios. For more info. visit his official site: http://www.artincontext.org/listings/pages/artist/n/bnd2lf5n/menu.htm |