The IN PROTEST: GLOBAL ACTIVISM photography exhibit opened at the Chicago Center for Photojournalism on October 12th 2024 and is running through 2025 featuring photos by local and international photographers. The photographs run the gamut of protest photography from the 1970s and forward. The oldest photos are by my good friend Mirko Popodich and myself. Mirko and I were students at UIC, the University of Illinois, Chicago (1972-76) in the Photography and Filmaking Departments and have remained friends over the years. My photos marked the 50th anniversary of the Invasion of Cyprus by Turkish Forces in 1974. The Turks Get Out of Cyprus photographs can be seen in their entirety on my website here. The two photos that I selected show an intensity of protesting, fists in the air, yelling, gesturing and movement as Greeks and Cypriots marched up Michigan Avenue and sat down on the street at one point. I remember sit-ins to protest the war in Viet Nam and the Cyprus protest had a similar vibe as the war in Viet Nam was winding down in 1974 and would finally end in 1975. Denise Keim who is the owner of the Chicago Center of Photojournalism curated and organized the exhibit which was a huge undertaking. The photos were hung from cable wires with clips which created an immediacy when viewed minus the usual glass and frames. This is a tactic was was used in my exhibit at the National Hellenic Museum in my current exhibits called "Gather Together: Street Photography by Diane Alexander White" and "Storytelling in Cloth and Light". The photos are nailed to the wall on all four corners of the prints which I like and had seen at a photo exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center. Ironically the Cyprus: 1974 in the Syllogi, The Collection gallery at the National Hellenic Museum with my Turks Get Out of Cyprus photos are behind a frame and glass. Also in 2024 my Cyprus Protest photos were included in the UIC Cyprus Symposium, Sept. 26-27 through the UIC Department of Classics and Mediterranean Studies. It was a real throwback to see the campus after almost 50 years and exhibit and talk about my experience at the Cyprus protest with an international group of presenters. Getting back to the Chicago Center for Photojournalism, the man in the rust colored jacket is Alan Koss who was a photographer at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. He is an interesting character and I enjoy his bad ass attitude. We own some of his photos here at the White House such as Roger Daltry and John Fogerty at the Woodstock Festival. It's pretty fantastic that John Fogerty is still on tour and we saw him at Ravinia in 2023. It still ranks up there as one of the best shows that I have seen in my life. Check that one off of the bucket list. But I digress which is not difficult to believe since I turned 70 years old this week and realize that I have seen a lot and have documented even more. Feel free to walk through history with me and explore more of my photos. GB!
© Diane Alexander White PHOTOGRAPHY