On a trip to Chicago not too long ago, we spent the entire day at the Art Institute. It was mid October and the temperature was what you might call coldish -- with an abundance of wind and rain as accompaniment. A perfect excuse to spend our day inside looking at art. I was documenting the trip with my trusty Contax G1 fitted with the wonderful Zeiss Planar 45 mm f/2 lens. I was shooting Ilford HP5+ pushed two stops. In general, I'm not one to push film -- if anything, I'll pull by a stop. What's the old saying, "Expose a lot; don't develop too much"? Words of wisdom as long as the light cooperates, which it did not do on this overcast day.
One of my favorite frames shows a sculpture called Family of Robot: Baby by Nam June Paik. It was made in 1986 using state of the art (at the time) Samsung monitors. According to the artist, “One must … know technology very well in order to be able to overcome it.” Thirty four years on, I think there's still plenty to work on in this regard...
There's no shortage of studies of the human form to be seen at the Art Institute. (Digression: the photography collection is also pretty amazing.) If classic sculpture is more your cup of tea, of course you're totally covered.
