“The Chicago Cluster Project” returns for its second edition, bringing together 24 artist groups to explore the intersection of historical photography and contemporary art. Taking place March 28 to April 27, 2025, the exhibition “Don’t Make Photographs, Think Them” activates photographic archives through installations, multimedia works, and experimental approaches that challenge traditional narratives of image-making. The exhibition title is borrowed from the motto of Hedrich & Blessing Photographers, whose iconic architectural images shaped visual culture throughout the 20th century. In this current iteration of “The Chicago Cluster Project,” the Hedrich & Blessing Photographer’s former studio at 400 N. Peoria St. becomes a site for reflection, experimentation, and intergenerational dialogue. The project highlights the role of archives as dynamic spaces for inquiry, creativity, and critical engagement.
Curated by Jan Tichy, artist, curator, and professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the exhibition draws from the extensive photographic collections of Rod Slemmons, who is a curator, archivist, and the former director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography. These collections, alongside others from Tichy’s studio, provide the foundation for artists to investigate themes of cultural memory, representation, and environmental transformation. With 24 participating artists — including other SAIC-affiliated names such as faculty Nimrod Astarhan, Matt Siber, Jonas Müller-Ahlheim, and alumni as Kat Bawden — the exhibition showcases a broad spectrum of cultural backgrounds, pedagogical perspectives, and photographic approaches. From performance-based image work to analog processes, the show underscores photography’s evolving role as both subject and medium in shaping history and contemporary discourse.
“When historical objects are deemed obsolete by archivists, historians, or other custodians, they present a critical opportunity for artists. Through their sensitivity and creative insight, artists are uniquely positioned to reevaluate historical visual materials and recontextualize them within contemporary concerns and practices,” said Tichy.
Tichy finds that photographers are deeply engaged with images in a different way from other artists and makers. They analyze through production, reproduction, and reinterpretation.
“Today, image production intersects with nearly every facet of the global economy and ecology, often carrying significant social, economic, political, and environmental consequences. Photography, in both its analog and digital forms, is inherently tied to these issues and must be continuously examined and challenged by contemporary cultural producers,” said Tichy.
SAIC Professor Donato Loia echoes Tichy’s sentiments of critical thinking with photography, “Working with found images and archival material has been a major direction in contemporary art over the past few decades. It also recalls earlier movements like the Pictures Generation, where the act of reframing or recontextualizing images became central to the work itself. The idea of thinking [about] photographs rather than making them speaks to a certain intellectualism — or perhaps even a cerebral detachment — that has come to define much of contemporary art,” said Loia.
“The Chicago Cluster Project” engages audiences beyond the gallery walls through a rich slate of public programming developed in collaboration with graduate students from SAIC’s Arts Administration & Policy department. Events include:
- April 12th 6:30pm Reading Sessions – Sarah & Joseph Belknap, L Koo, Kat Bawden, Jonas Müller-Ahlheim
- April 17th 6pm Developing Dialogues – with
Mackenzie Salisbury - April 18th – Image transfer workshop with Mahsa Alafar & Jude Kharchou
- April 19th 4pm Celluloid Now with Chicago Film Society & Kioto Aoki
- April 25th 3pm Shadowy Evidence with Kristin Taylor & Selena Kearney
- April 27th 3pm Curatorial walkthrough with Jan Tichy
The opening night of “Don’t Make Photographs, Think Them” welcomed a full house, with many visitors exploring the works and spending time in conversation throughout the space. There was a shared feeling that the venue — formerly the Hedrich & Blessing studio — felt like the perfect match for the show, both historically and visually. People moved slowly through the layered installations, drawn in by the range of approaches — from delicate collage to experimental tech-based pieces. Artist Matt Siber described, “It was great to see the Chicago, and beyond, photography community come together in one space.”
“‘Don’t Make Photographs, Think Them’ is an exhibit that expands and complicates assumptions about the discipline of photography and its embodied display. This exhibition is a carefully curated example of how photography — both historical and contemporary — is always a critical negotiation between technologies and bodies,” said SAIC Professor Lizzie Leopold.
“Don’t Make Photographs, Think Them” offers a resonant meditation on the photographic archive — not as a static repository, but as a living, generative force in contemporary culture.
“Don’t Make Photographs, Think Them” gallery hours are Fri–Sun, 2–5pm, and Mon–Thu by appointment via thechicagocluster@gmail.com. Full programming details at chicagocluster.org.
