University's Photography Museum is now Online

Duane Michaels, Courtesy of the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago

Columbia College Chicago is well known for their Museum of Contemporary Photography, and rightly so. As the largest photography gallery and museum in the Midwest, they provide a diverse and well-rounded collection, giving a broad look into the photographic world. And now they have something new to offer: the Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) has compiled their permanent collection into an online database viewable by all.

Comprised of almost 10,000 photographs or photography-related works by over 8,500 artists spanning 73 years, the collection was made 100% public with the goal of providing “access to relevant research and cultural information on the artists,” said Kristin Freeman, the museum’s Collections Manager. “We hope that by having the collection online we increase the visibility of works many people may not know about,” Freeman added.

With all of these works amassed in one place it may seem that simply browsing the collection would be overwhelming, but the database has various search and browsing methods to facilitate the browsing. Not only can you browse by an artist’s last name or keywords (each piece has a brief description listing the key points of the image) but there is also an advanced search, which includes date created, category (book, negative, print, portfolio…), culture, place made and place collected.

Along with their search and browsing features, members of the website can create their own collections within the database. Upon registering, members can create groups in which to organize their favorite photographs.

While the archives are published and available for viewing, MoCP is still doing work on the website to streamline its operation. Having started simply as a way to “’clean-up’ [their] pre-existing database” the website has become something much larger and continues to grow. “The next step is to put all of the video and audio recordings of visiting artist lectures on the website,” said Freeman. Currently some of these are available on MoCP’s Vimeo channel.

With this stockpile of images, MoCP has succeeded in creating a new go-to resource for researchers and fans of photography alike that will not only be a great alternative for those who aren’t in the Chicago area but will also be available 24/7.

—Sophie Bloomfield