Take a tour of this influential artist-teacher’s career, from her internationally heralded early studies of human form through her chronicle of Chicago city life to her recent explorations of nature. The exhibition reveals Crane to be a quintessential experimenter who, for more than sixty years, has been stretching the boundaries of photography. Through single images, sequences, grids, and scrolls that range widely in size from intimate to grand, she delivers photographs that surprise us, unleash wonder, and encourage us to experiment ourselves.

Barbara Crane (b. 1928) began her career as a portrait photographer but soon sought a more creative outlet for her vibrant imagination. Influenced by the ideas of the German Bauhaus movement, she also learned to take her cues from painting, experimental film, and the music of renowned composer John Cage. Provoked to think beyond the ordinary, she has created a stunning breadth of work, all of which is wonderfully represented in this exhibition.

Barbara Crane: Challenging Vision is the first major retrospective of the photographer’s work in more than twenty-five years. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated 200-page publication with essays by Abigail Foerstner and Amon Carter Museum Senior Curator of Photographs John Rohrbach.

Organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, this exhibition was guest curated by Kenneth C. Burkhart.