Uta Barth
January 22 – May 16, 2026 | The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, Chicago
This year, the Museum of Contemporary Photography turns 50 years old. Since opening in 1976 and initiating collecting in 1979, the MoCP has acquired over 18,000 objects by more than 2,000 artists, representing a broad scope of aesthetics, technologies, and processes. The variety of work collected has allowed the museum to engage in conversations across political, social, and cultural landscapes.
To celebrate this milestone, MoCP at 50 examines the evolving practice of building a dynamic collection, presenting a range of rarely exhibited and newly acquired works. Together, these selections question and reflect on the role of cultural institutions in shaping the photographic canon.
MoCP at 50 honors the museum’s ongoing dedication to collecting as a deliberate, mercurial, and educational process that contributes to keeping photography’s many narratives alive and in dialogue with the present.