The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) is the world’s premier college art museum dedicated to photography, with a permanent collection of over 18,000 works. As an international hub, MoCP generates ideas and provokes dialogue among students, artists, and diverse communities through groundbreaking exhibitions and programming.
Founded by Columbia College Chicago in 1976 as an intimate and comprehensive visual study center for students, educators, and general audiences alike, MoCP presents public programs and exhibitions that foster a greater understanding of the artistic, cultural, and political implications of the image in our world today.
MoCP continues to offer a stimulating and innovative forum for the collection, creation, and examination of contemporary images from diverse aesthetic traditions and technologies.
Visit mocp.org for a list of upcoming exhibitions and events.
Image courtesy of Museum of Contemporary Photography
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Opening reception Thursday, January 29, 2026
5:00 - 7:00 pm
MoCP
600 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL
Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) announces its next exhibition, MoCP at Fifty: Collecting Through the Decades, on view January 22-May 16, 2026.
As we enter the new year, MoCP celebrates its 50th anniversary. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, MoCP has acquired over 18,000 objects by more than 2,000 artists, representing a broad scope of aesthetics, technologies, and processes. The variety of artworks collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes.
To celebrate this milestone, MoCP at Fifty examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection, presenting a range of objects, from the rarely exhibited to newly acquired works. Together, these selections question and reflect on the role cultural institutions play in shaping the photographic canon. Each of the museum’s five galleries represents a decade of collecting, beginning with the most recent acquisitions (2016-2026) in the first gallery, then moving backwards through time.
“Over five decades, the MoCP has built a collection that traces shifting cultural, political, and visual histories. This moment allows us to look back with reflection and celebrate our holdings, knowing that every photograph we steward becomes part of a larger conversation about how images shape our understanding of the world.” Karen Irvine, Chief Curator and Deputy Director
Looking at MoCP’s collection decade by decade is as much an archive of history as it is of art. Collections are fluid, often evolving in ways that mirror the values and trends of society at large. The first decades are noticeably missing many women and artists of color, not because such artists were not making work at the time, but because cultural institutions had yet to fully consider the value of varied perspectives and forms of practice. The later decades were collected with intention, not only of addressing gaps in representation, but to embrace conceptual works and works that push the boundary of what defines “photography,” in the process expanding, innovating, and redefining what a photography museum can offer the public.
This exhibition displays over 100 objects from the MoCP collection. Featured artists include: Joel Sternfeld (American, b. 1944), Barbara Crane (American, 1928–2019), Matthew Finley (American, b. 1972), Carrie Mae Weems (American, b. 1953), Yasuhiro Ishimoto (Japanese American, 1921-2012), Dayanita Singh (Indian, b.1961), Bob Thall (American, b. 1948), Carlotta Corpron (American, 1901-1988), and various others.
Image: Danny Lyon, Crossing the Ohio, Louisville, from the portfolio Danny Lyon, 1966; portfolio 1979. 1983:125.10
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