Feature Mon Feb 16 2009

Pleasant Enough All the Same

On January 15, Christopher Hiltz started a photographic installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in conjunction with the Court Theatre's production of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck. The installation is comprised of predominately unposed portraits of theater patrons as they waited in the lobby for the play to begin. Each night, Hiltz photographed his subjects and then structured the processes, prints and frames so the finished images were displayed by the time the patrons exited the theater. Although every night the crowd was different, Hiltz created a unified body of images that reflect the contemplative nature of the subjects.

The portrait installation, entitled Pleasant Enough All the Same, will remain on display in the museum's theater lobby until March 17th, at which point Hiltz will return to the museum to give away the photographs to interested parties. He wrote extensively about the project on his blog.

Click here to view the photo essay. »

About the Photographer

Christopher Hiltz is a Chicago based photographer who flirts with many genres but refuses to settle down with The One. He spends just as much time making abstract, expressionistic images as he does shooting documentary style portraits. In the last year he has shown work with Allegoric, and had his first solo show at the Believe Inn. Hiltz is usually on time and wishes he had Dick Van Dyke's wardrobe.

— David Schalliol / Comments (0)