I walked up to the glass doors. As I looked up, the sign read Museum of Contemporary Photography. All I have to do now is open the door. As I walked in I am asked to check my bag. I handed the bag to a lady who was waiting behind a desk. In return she greeted me with a smile. I did the same. I now start my search for the piece of art that calls out to me. I looked around to find myself in a white room with wooden floors and a new shoe type of smell. There wasn’t much talking, but I could hear the whispers of those who came in a group. The display that was being observed was entitled the Cultural Impact of Mexican Migration. The idea of the exhibit was to represent the history of migration from México to Chicago and the perception of how racial stereotypes are processed through using pictures.

As I looked around, there was another exhibit located upstairs. I was eager to find out what it was. I could hear the footsteps of the visitors as if their feet were heavy. Before entering the room, on the side stairs there was a display of cans that was supposed to contain different types of laughter. I wasn’t sure if it was real because you were not allowed to touch the display. Therefore, I headed up to the next exhibit upstairs. Which really caught my attention.

There were four finalists; each piece has its own unique and creative story. Each year, the “Grange Prize” recognizes the work of Canadian and International

contemporary photographers. Josh Band, Moyra Davey, Leslie Hewitt, and Kristan Horton are the names of the finalist. As I observed their photography, it began to get more interesting. I move to the next exhibit and found that one piece that was appealing to my eyes.

Band’s untitled photos were made using an analogue process and material. He exposes his photography paper by projecting light onto it. Some of his pictures were photographs that appeared as if they were the moon. I didn’t have an interest in the photos. I guess I want to find something that had more life to it. It was a good piece of photography, but it didn’t catch my attention.

Davey’s photos were titled “Copper Head.” She photographed objects she encountered in her daily life, in school, outside, and her room. She also liked to use objects that are from old ages. Her displays were photos of pennies she found on the street of New York. Each copperhead was worn down, and I could see how the corrosion started to take over the pennies. They had a greenish color opposed to a copper color. The pennies looked as if they had been chewed on and clawed by a monster, with strong teeth and claws. The pennies seemed to be at a end and at the end of their usefulness in life.

Hewitt’s photographs were titled “Riffs on Real Times.” Her photographs included a photo onto an object. Her first photo seemed to be a baseball stadium on a map of North America. Her second photo was of a table with a lamp along with a picture of a black male in his graduation gown. Behind her photo is a black and white magazine, with a picture of a house fire being extinguished. They all seem to elicit some type of memory.

Horton would snap photographs with a digital camera as he circumnavigated objects in his photo studio. He would take doorknobs, paper, folders, CDs and anything he finds and fuse the images together, to achieve a multilayer structure. His objects are broken up and depicted from a host viewpoint. Looking at the photo was like looking through a colorful diamond. It reminded me of the kaleidoscopes we used to have when we were little, with all the different shapes and colors.

I felt that the exhibits were more about objects that we encounter in our day to day lives. No matter what it is in life, there will always be something that reminds us of our past, present and future, whether the past is bad, the present in between, and the future the unseen or maybe vice versa. If we took the time to look at things in the world around us, we would learn and discover things that we never thought existed.

Everything in the world is more than just one picture and has more than just one meaning. It’s like the saying says, “a picture is worth a thousand words” or “One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure.” If we took the time to really understand the things that are around us and use our imagination to see things in different perspectives, it would be an inspiring and great moment.

I liked the exhibits because they were inspiring. I felt it not only showed a picture, but it told a story about things we encounter in out day to day lives. They made me wonder if life is really full of surprises. Only me as a person can seek out the thing I want in life and compare them to the thing I already have.

Good art makes the viewer think or leave them with some kind of feeling. Art that one looks at once and then keeps walking may be because a person likes it, but they’re just not that into it. Good art is not about beauty. It’s about how it moves the viewer and shuffles the mind.  As I viewed Horton’s photography, I tried to see if I could unmerge the photos with my mind. I wanted to see what objects were in the photo. At first it seemed impossible. After awhile, it was like looking at a normal picture.

Visiting the exhibit was a huge risk for me. I didn’t know anything about photography. I didn’t know where to start or even what the material that was used to create the photos were. I felt like I had entered a new world, at the same time I felt familiar with it. Taking this risk allowed me to explore and see new things. I feel that’s what the world is all about, discovering the unknown.