Washington Park Camera Club: South Park Then & Now
The Washington Park Camera Club South Park: Then and Now, on-line photo exhibit, weaves together historic and contemporary images of South Park: Jackson, Washington Parks and the Midway Plaisance. The photo essay highlights the importance of Olmsted’s landscapes in the past as well as the vital role they play in the lives of Chicagoans today. Founded in 1955 and one of Chicago’s oldest camera clubs, WPCC is predominantly composed of African American members, many of whom grew up near Washington Park.
Presented in collaboration with the Hyde Park Historical Society, South Park Then and Now is presented as part of Art Design Chicago Now, an initiative funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art that amplifies the voices of Chicago’s diverse creatives, past and present, and explores the essential role they play in shaping the now.
Watch the video here.
Photo credit— Parks for All People; Washington Park, Chicago. Frederick Law Olmsted believed urban parks should serve as democratic spaces where people of different backgrounds and socioeconomic status would come together. Left: ca. 1910. Right: October, 2021. Photographer Yvonne Cary Carter
