Focal Point is a podcast exploring the artists, themes, and processes that define—and sometimes disrupt—the world of contemporary photography. Each episode engages two people in conversation around a photograph of their choice from the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s permanent collection. Join us as we explore contemporary photography in Chicago and beyond, through topics like the constructed image, portraiture and the human subject, the photographic archive, and more.
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In this episode, MoCP Community Engagement Fellow Alayna N. Pernell is in conversation with artist and educator, Jen Everett. The two discuss Everett’s interdisciplinary practice spanning lens-based and time-based media, installation, collage, and writing, as well as her ongoing exploration of how Black knowledge is produced and transmitted through rupture, interiority, and embodied memory. They…
On May 29, 2025, MoCP presented a series of conversations exploring authorship, representation, and the dissemination of information as they relate to the past, present, and future of photography. This special edition of Focal Point Extras captures a discussion between photographer Susan Meiselas and writer, critic, and photographer Teju Cole on the topic “What Does It Mean to Look at These…
On May 29, 2025, MoCP presented a series of conversations that explored topics of authorship, representation, and the dissemination of information as they relate to the past, present, and future of photography. This special edition of Focal Point Extras captures the conversation between scholar and educator Laura Wexler (Yale University) and artist, art historian, and educator Shawn Michelle Smith…
On May 29, 2025, MoCP presented a series of conversations that explored topics of authorship, representation, and the dissemination of information as they relate to the past, present, and future of photography. This special edition of Focal Point Extras captures the conversation between artists Eric Gottesman and Wendy Ewald as part of a full-day symposium at MoCP titled Conversations on…
On May 29, 2025, MoCP presented a series of conversations that explored topics of authorship, representation, and the dissemination of information as they relate to the past, present, and future of photography. This special edition of Focal Point Extras captures the conversation between artist Dawoud Bey and scholar Leigh Raiford on the topic of “The Photographed Person was Always There.” The two…
In this episode, MoCP Executive Director, Natasha Egan, sits down with artist Christina Fernandez. The two discuss Christina’s decades-long career in pushing the boundaries of photography, blending her personal history as a Mexican American woman with broader cultural narratives about migration, labor, and gender. Natasha and Christina additionally discuss a piece in the MoCP permanent collection…
In this episode, artists Meghann Riepenhoff and Penelope Umbrico chat with MoCP curator, Kristin Taylor. The two artists discuss their backgrounds and shared interests in experimenting and pushing the indexical qualities of photography, as well as the work of Alison Rossiter and Joanne Leonard. Meghann Riepenhoff is most well-known for her largescale cyanotype prints that she creates by…
This episode features Jay Wolke and Eli Giclas in conversation with MoCP Curator of Academic Programs and Collections, Kristin Taylor. Jay and Eli discuss their photographic approaches to depict the built environment as a reflection of patterns of human consumption and an imbalanced relationship with nature. They also discuss their appreciation of works by Stan Douglas and Dawn Kim in the MoCP…
In this episode, MoCP Curator of Academic Programs and Collections, Kristin Taylor, chats with Susan Meiselas and Wendy Ewald about their new publication titled Collaboration: A Potential History of Photography. Made with Ariella Aïsha Azoulay , Leigh Raiford, and Laura Wexler, the book is a deep dive into current and historical photographic projects about human stories. It spotlights how the…
This episode of Focal Point features two exhibiting artists from LOVE: Still Not the Lesser (on view August 17 - December 23, 2023) in conversation with Asha Iman Veal, MoCP Associate Curator. Jorian Charlton (b. 1989 Canada) is an artist who focuses on her generation of peers within the Caribbean diaspora—authoring their canon of Black Canadian representation. Yuge Zhou 周雨歌 (b. 1985 China)…
