Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department Alumnus Ryan Bourque Unveils New Photo Exhibit Jan. 6

An exhibit of photographs by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department alumnus Ryan Bourque ’09 opens Friday, January 6, at ARC Gallery, 2156 N. Damen, Chicago. Bourque, a graduate of the Theatre Department’s Acting program, is a professional photographer as well as an actor and a Joseph Jefferson Award-winning stage combat choreographer.

The exhibit, titled “People in Place,” consists of portraits of people Bourque has photographed in Chicago and around the country — what he calls his “street photography” to distinguish it from his studio portrait photography. “People in Place,” which will be on display at ARC Gallery through January 28, is Bourque’s first solo display in a gallery. The focus of Bourque’s street photography is the connection that people have to the environment they are in, as sometimes, a person looks to perfectly synthesize with their surroundings, both physically and mentally, in the moment of exposure. The photos on display are framed with original woodwork by former Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department student Andrew Swanson. The free opening reception for “People in Place” on Friday, January 6, takes place from 6 to 9 PM. For more information, call 773-252-2232.

As an actor, Bourque’s credits include The Hypocrites theatre company’s acclaimed productions of All Our Tragic and The Mikado. He has won two Joseph Jefferson Awards (Chicago’s leading theatrical prize) as a fight choreographer for The Hyporites’ All Our Tragic and Coriolanus. Bourque’s other projects include a podcast, How Do You Do, which he describes as “a combination of oral interviews and photographs taken of people who are doing their ‘thing,’ ” as well as a forthcoming book of interviews with Chicago theatre artists illustrated with Bourque’s photographic portraits of the interviewees.