TITLE_NAME :
01/22/2026 - 05/16/2026
Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)
600 S Michigan Ave
IL 60605 Chicago
https://www.mocp.org/exhibition/mocp-at-50-collecting-through-the-decades/
This year, the Museum of Contemporary Photography turns 50 years old. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, the 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 work collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes.
To celebrate this milestone, MoCP at 50 examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection, presenting a range of rarely exhibited and newly acquired works. Together, these selections question and reflect on the role of cultural institutions in shaping the photographic canon. Each of the five galleries represent a decade of collecting, beginning with the most recent acquisitions (2016-2026) in the first gallery, then moving backwards through time.
Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP)
600 S Michigan Ave
IL 60605 Chicago
https://www.mocp.org/exhibition/mocp-at-50-collecting-through-the-decades/
This year, the Museum of Contemporary Photography turns 50 years old. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, the 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 work collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes.
To celebrate this milestone, MoCP at 50 examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection, presenting a range of rarely exhibited and newly acquired works. Together, these selections question and reflect on the role of cultural institutions in shaping the photographic canon. Each of the five galleries represent a decade of collecting, beginning with the most recent acquisitions (2016-2026) in the first gallery, then moving backwards through time.