REWind presents the work of three photographers from the Chicago Women in Photography Collective, all of whom use traditional documentary practices to examine photography’s influence on our fascination with the past. Marshall McLuhan’s observation that “preceding [environments] acquire an almost nostalgic fascination when surrounded by the new” (The Essential McLuhan) can be applied to the work in this exhibition.

Patty Carroll documents the vintage architectural styles of a forgotten leisure culture, taking photos of formerly popular locales of entertainment such as bowling alleys, seedy bars, mom and pop motels and wedding chapels.

Mary Farmilant’s photographs of abandoned hospital spaces record the decline of the US healthcare system. A departure from the glossy color brochures American hospitals use to advertise their services, these images depict the fragile nature of living institutions.

Jennifer Greenburg documents members of a modern day subculture that style their lives after images of 1950s America, as seen in Hollywood films and Life and Look Magazines. Her photographs emphasize the startling authenticity of their attempts to recreate life as they imagine it was lived in a more idyllic time.
 

Curated by P. Elaine Sharpe