Museum Of Contemporary Photography

For being FREE, this place was pretty awesome. It’s small, more like an exhibit than an actual museum. But the photos are very interesting & it’s a nice stop if you’re trying to get out of the cold or just looking for something quick, fun & free to do near the Loop.

Small free museum on a college campus. Today was opening day of 40^th anniversary exhibit, lots of very interesting photos displayed.

This gallery (a «museum»? really?) definitely gets props for admission, which is suggested. So, you can go for free!
You can definitely go through this gallery in half an hour. I came for one about Vietnam, which contained a few photographers and was meant to push the envelope in terms of our conceptions of the country. However, I didn’t feel like the curator achieved this at all; stereotypes were reinforced, if anything.
The pieces were varied, though, so I appreciate the different types of photography that were represented in this exhibit. Nonetheless, I was a bit surprised by the message of the exhibit. Visit with an open mind, I guess.

I attended the Opening reception: Dandy Lion — (Re) Articulating Black masculine identity. What a good time! There was a huge turn out which made it very cramped, but I was still able to make it to all 3 floors to check out the photographs and mingle.
My favorite part was getting to meet two of my favorite writers from blackandsexytv. If you don’t know what that is please get on YouTube and look it up. You are missing out if you don’t! (I promise I’m not a publicist for the show… Lol). I plan on returning for more exhibits that interest me.

Free and a museum on Michigan Ave? Yes, please. There were several floors, albeit small ones, of photos with three movies playing and magazine covers adorning the walls. All different types of media were used. While it didn’t take long to go through, we did stay for about an hour perusing and watching the movies. It was a nice way to spend an hour.

This museum is easy to locate. And people work here are actually very nice.
But for someone who doesn’t know much about photography. The visit could be very short. The place is small. Not so many rooms and exhibitions.

Good local museum. The exhibits are diverse and interesting. The collection is very strong and is available online. Best of all, you can arrange for a member of the museum staff to show you pieces from their collection.
Props to Columbia College Chicago for founding MoCP. It reflects Columbia’s strong support of the arts and commitment to the local community.

I am a fan of any free museum, no entrance fee. It is very small, spread over 3 levels. The photographs are interesting, it does not take long to see anything, it is part of the Columbia College establishment. Well worth it if you are in the South Michigan Avenue area in Chicago.

Perhaps I visited at the wrong time but I was not impressed in the least bit. The museum has a lot of space, three rooms on the main floor and one main room on the second. The halls of the staircase was also used as well. Two of the rooms on the main floor were showing videos. The main room had pictures that looked like someone dug up their family photos and placed them on display. Perhaps that was the intent. Either way the concept was lost on me. The saving grace of this place was the exhibition on the second floor of photos found in Detroit. Even though some of the photos were graphic, showing dead bodies, the letters displayed were interesting. I think this location and space could be a great resource if utilized properly.

Seems like all you have to do to put a pic in it’s wall is study at Columbia.
Expected more about this space, I disn’t really enjoy the exhibition.

I’d say the Museum of Contemporary Photography is small, but mighty. It occupies a multi-​level space at Columbia College and is free to enjoy, with of course an option to donate. The current exhibit up right now is called «Backstory: LaToya Ruby Frazier, Ron Jude and Guillaume Simoneau.» At first I thought it was only a one-​level museum and was let-​down but alas, there were stairs leading up to the rest of the exhibit. The work was captivating and relatable but not for everyone. I don’t ever think it’s fair to review a museum based on the show that is currently up but for the actual space of the museum itself, I really enjoyed myself. The gentleman working the check-​in desk was friendly. There weren’t very many other visitors there the same time as me so the walk-​thru took less than an hour. So here’s the thing: this museum is free, entertaining and centrally located so it’s definitely worth it to squeeze in-​between other sites!

The Museum of Contemporary Photography, on Michigan below Congress is in a relatively small multi-​level space. During my visit, an exhibit on spectator sports was underway. The art was interesting and thought provoking, but I was surprised to not find any of the permanent collection on display. It’s possible that we missed a turn somewhere, but the only photographs I saw were part of the exhibit. It would be great if they could dedicate more physical space to allow for more photos to be hung (their permanent collection is available online).
I give it four stars because it is free (donation suggested) and in a good location. If they charged admission, I would lower the rating to 3 stars due to the relatively limited display space.

Not big but interesting. They clearly to get interesting artists exposed in here. Nice effort. It’s worth a look. IT’S FREE. You can donate when you go out, depending on how you appreciated what you saw (I gave).
Go have a look!

As someone who is mildly interested in photography and very interested in free museums, I thought this would be the perfect way to spend a few hours of free time that I had in Chicago.
It seemed as though there were two students from Roosevelt University working the front desk/​reception. Instead of greeting me when I walked in, they rolled their eyes as if I was disturbing them from whatever they were doing/​watching on their laptop at their desk.
The museum itself was okay. It is not very big and took about 30 minutes to walk through. All the photos were sports related, and there was no indication of whether this was a permanent exhibition or if they switched their photos around. But, they had several different mediums and the signs next to the photos explaining their meanings were very informative and easy to read.
On my way out I asked the two students if I could purchase a post card from the small gift shop area behind their desk and they abruptly told me they did not sell post cards. They did not attempt to sell me another product or advise me on another place where I could purchase post cards. They should really be fired.

This was ok for a free museum. I wish they had more landscape pictures though and less industrial type pics.

There’s nothing I like more than a free museum, especially in Chicago as they come few and far between.
The Museum of Contemporary Photography is housed inside Columbia College on Michigan Avenue, it has works from Harry Shearer (yes, Harry Shearer of The Simpsons and Spinal Tap fame) where he collected satellite news feed clips of political and media giants such as James Carville, Hillary Clinton, and Anderson Cooper, silently getting ready to go on air.
Another fun exhibit that was there was the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue photo project where they look at different houses throughout the US that share the famous address of the White House.

A small gallery space, laid out over two labels with a couple of photography exhibitions. Oh, and it’s free.
Located near the Arts Institute and Millenium Park.

This is a free museum attached to Columbia College.
It’s not going to be an entire day event so just roll by when you have 45 – 60 minutes to spare in your day.
They have videos set up right now on the first floor and more traditional photography upstairs.
This was NOT what I was expecting but I mean that in a good way.
As my friend said on our way out. «A little TOO contemporary for me.»

Totally lackluster. Very small collection. Overrun with students. It’s free but not worth the trip, in my opinion.

The good: it’s free.
The bad: No wonder it’s free.
I guess I’ve been spoiled by other museums or photography collections, but this little museum left a lot to be desired. I walked through the main space downstairs and room upstairs in less than 5 minutes. It wasn’t just that the collection was small, but the photographs on display were not even that good. I guess I just expected better from a museum specializing in photography. Perhaps it’s the «contemporary» part that makes it okay to display mediocre work. If you’re in the area on south Michigan Avenue, check it out, but don’t come out of your way for it.

Another free pass for Museum day but with a hint of suggested donations (though I heard that it’s free everyday so I felt a little silly). Hey I’m not complaining, I believe in supporting the arts and culture for this city. Photography is obviously a different form of art or expression. Yes, it takes that certain skill and a special eye. Yes, it’s open to opinion like art and fashion. But, at least for me, it has a more realness, freezing moments in time and much rawer. People used to believe that a photographer can steal your very soul with a click of the camera. Maybe they can…
MoCP is not a very large space but they do make good use with what they have. The young smiling staff seems to have one of those cool jobs that they get to brag about, a constantly changing environment. As for the work, some interesting photos and some not so interesting for my taste but entertaining none the less. You can easily view the entire space within an hour and if you haven’t been you should really go. Just another thing Chicago has to offer.