For Evanston native Ann Kogen, her passion for photography began with a brownie camera, gifted to her when she was 8 years old. Since then, Kogen has continued to explore photography over many years and across several cameras and travels. About 60 of her photographs are showcased in Dittmar Memorial Gallery’s “STREET” exhibition, which opened Oct. 2.
“STREET” is one of the first photo-based shows in the past few years and the first street photograph show that Dittmar has ever had, according to Assistant Director of Arts and Programs Kimberly Mills. The show felt fresh and new for the gallery, she said.
Kogen’s street photographs capture candid moments from the early 1980s. Many of the photos came from a trip she took to Europe in 1982 and 1983, Kogen said. She traveled with a friend to “experience different worlds and different cultures, but also to photograph them,” she said.
Kogen added that she had an intuitive sense for street photography and appreciated the immediacy of it.
“I really love the spontaneity of it. It’s very exciting to photograph that way, and it’s like thinking about being a documentary of the moment, of the people on the street, what’s happening in that moment,” Kogen said. “Things are always fluid and changing in our world, so I think it’s just quite exciting to capture a moment.”
Other photographs in the show are more local, taken in Evanston and Chicago.
Decades later, Kogen said that it felt special to look back on her photographs and reflect on how the world, alongside her life, has changed. She had held onto them for a long period of time and considered them a “treasure,” the photographer said.
In early 2025, submissions for Dittmar’s exhibitions opened, Mills said. Kogen’s photographs were selected due to their unique medium not always featured in the gallery and a strong vision for a theme to tie them all together.
Mills said she was excited that Kogen was a local artist.
“I think the fact that she has such strong connections to Evanston, it just tells a really wonderful story of what local talent we have here in the area,” Mills said.
Mills also appreciated the strong theme found throughout Kogen’s photographs. Kogen was able to capture the human spirit in her photographs, which struck her personally, Mills said. Viewers can easily put themselves in the artist’s shoes when looking at the photographs, she added.
“Ann’s work is so inviting. We were excited about how it works through a lens of place and of people to capture moments in time,” Student Supervisor of Programs & Engagement Maggie Munday Odom said. “Something that initially compelled me to the works, and has continued to compel me throughout the installation process and the run of the exhibition, is how each of these images and the people in the images have a story. It’s such a reminder that everyone has a world within them and around them that we don’t always see.”
Once Kogen’s street photographs were selected for a show, a roughly six-month-long curation process began. Kogen worked with Medill sophomore, Dittmar student supervisor of the curator and registrar and Daily staffer Clare Kirwan to curate “STREET.”
Kogen said she began by organizing all of her photographs and narrowing a few hundred photographs down to the final 61. She relied on help from her son and her creative intuition, she said.
“It’s an intuitive experience when you just see something and you know it’s right,” Kogen said.
In the gallery, each photograph was placed strategically. Kirwan worked to place them in ways that drew viewers in and kept their eyes moving throughout the various photographs, Mills explained.
In addition to the photographs, the exhibition also includes a Spotify playlist. Odom said that she felt passionate about inviting people to engage with art with more than one sense, and she thought a playlist was apt for “STREET” because it is a time period-based show.
“Music is such a somatic way of experiencing time and cultural and social shifts,” Odom said.
The playlist was curated by Kogen with support from Kirwan, Odom said. Songs include Stevie Wonder’s “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing,” Frank Ocean’s “Pink + White” and Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” When first presented with the idea of a playlist, Odom added that Kogen immediately had certain songs come to mind.
“STREET” will run in Dittmar Gallery through Dec. 3.
Kogen said she hopes her photographs remind viewers that regardless of division, everybody is human. She wants viewers to be curious about the stories behind the photographs, she added.
“We all are really the same through time. We’re all human beings,” Kogen said. “We all struggle, and we all also feel joy, sadness, love, anger, fear and all these different emotions.”
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