My remarks will be short and sweet to allow for questions and as soon as I’m done speaking shoot me your question. Here we go, I am Diane Alexander White and 2022 marks my 50th year as a photographer. Next year I will celebrate 40 years of photography at the Field Museum that includes three exhibits showcasing Arapaho, Cheyenne and Crow peoples and those exhibits have traveled to Indian tribal lands and museums. My father Angelo D. Alexander was an amateur photographer who immigrated from Greece and photographed family events in color slide and black and white film. Dad gifted me a used Kodak Retina Reflex film camera purchased in a pawn shop for my high school graduation in 1972. Forget autofocus and auto exposure, this was a get it right manual everything camera with a fixed 50mm lens. In other words I was the zoom lens moving in or out to capture the scale of the image. Processing film and prints took place in the darkroom at UIC where I learned from photography instructors that included Robert Steigler who opened my eyes to the art of capturing the street image. After graduating UIC in 1976 I began working in studios and darkrooms and continued shooting on the street. I was partial to jobs with darkrooms as it allowed me to continue processing in-house. It was rare to leave the house without my camera. If you have an addiction you learn how to cut corners and save cash. That was done with my 35mm film bulk loader, 50 feet of film and reusable cassettes. If you want to be a good people photographer you hit the streets and go where there is a high concentration of people. Which brings us to my current exhibit at the National Hellenic Museum called GATHER TOGETHER: STREET PHOTOGRAPHY BY DIANE ALEXANDER WHITE where you will see groups of people from 1974 up until 2009 when I began to shoot digitally. It is the variations in people’s heights, genders, ages, facial expression and the fashion of the day are propelled me to photograph them. Photographing crowds is often times more interesting than the action itself and to observe details from the scans onto the desktop is an emotional one. People pictured in photographs have names and stories. Where are they now and who recognizes them today? Fortunately I have been able to learn more as the photos have been shared. Social media and the internet have taken the analog images and made it possible to learn the identity of people in these photos. Do you recognize anyone in these photos?
The process works for me by an instinct that is motivated by a flash of light in my brain. When the photograph reveals itself I dive with camera wearing a smile, take the photo and disappear to capture the next photo until the film is ready to roll out. Fortunately I almost never encounter push back from the subject. There are times where permission is merited especially if the subject deserves a few extra shots to insure that, “the one” is captured.
During the Covid lockdown and until we were able to Gather Together, I took the time to breakout my negative scanner and add the photos to my website at Diane Alexander White Photography where you will see much more than I could ever hope to share with you today. Please visit the Urban Photography page and shoot me a message if you recognize anyone and want to stay in touch.
This collection of photos is a contemplative one. Not just because the images are reminiscent of a strange and beautiful time in the not-so-long ago; but also because they act as a mile-marker, as a landmark to gauge how far we’ve come as a society and as a culture in the years and decades since. Photographs are an important portal, a valuable window into our past, and perhaps even into our future. They immortalize a moment in history that would have otherwise been lost like smoke in the wind. Thank you for your time.
Now who has a question?
The process works for me by an instinct that is motivated by a flash of light in my brain. When the photograph reveals itself I dive with camera wearing a smile, take the photo and disappear to capture the next photo until the film is ready to roll out. Fortunately I almost never encounter push back from the subject. There are times where permission is merited especially if the subject deserves a few extra shots to insure that, “the one” is captured.
During the Covid lockdown and until we were able to Gather Together, I took the time to breakout my negative scanner and add the photos to my website at Diane Alexander White Photography where you will see much more than I could ever hope to share with you today. Please visit the Urban Photography page and shoot me a message if you recognize anyone and want to stay in touch.
This collection of photos is a contemplative one. Not just because the images are reminiscent of a strange and beautiful time in the not-so-long ago; but also because they act as a mile-marker, as a landmark to gauge how far we’ve come as a society and as a culture in the years and decades since. Photographs are an important portal, a valuable window into our past, and perhaps even into our future. They immortalize a moment in history that would have otherwise been lost like smoke in the wind. Thank you for your time.
Now who has a question?
© Diane Alexander White PHOTOGRAPHY