Chicago
1950
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print mounted on paperboard
Dimensions
image: 23.3 x 34.6 cm (9 3/16 x 13 5/8 in.) mount: 38.1 x 46.4 cm (15 x 18 1/4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Susan MacGill
Accession Number
2006.174.2
Art Historical Context
Harry Callahan's *Chicago* (1950) is a captivating gelatin silver print that captures the mid-20th-century pulse of America's urban heartland. Measuring 23.3 x 34.6 cm, this black-and-white photograph exemplifies Callahan's mastery of street photography during his time in the Windy City, where he the interplay of architecture, light, and shadow with innovative precision. Gelatin silver prints, like this one mounted on paperboard, were the gold standard for fine art photography in the postwar era, offering exceptional clarity, rich tonal gradations, and archival stability that allowed subtle de...
About the Artist
Harry Callahan
Harry Morey Callahan (1912–1999) was a pioneering American photographer whose self-taught ingenuity transformed everyday scenes into profound visual poetry. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he briefly studied engineering at Michigan State University before working at Chrysler, where he joined the company camera club. In 1938, Callahan took up photography as a hobby, but a 1941 lecture by Ansel Adams ins...