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Matinee: 'Finding Photography'
5 April 2025
Saturday matinees long ago let us escape from the ordinary world to the island of the Swiss Family Robinson or the mutinous decks of the Bounty. Why not, we thought, escape the usual fare here with Saturday matinees of our favorite photography films?
So we're pleased to present the 598th in our series of Saturday matinees today: Finding Photography.
The Chicago Dance History Project presents this 1:55 interview with dance photographer Jennifer Girard.
She begins humbly enough explaining she got her start doing head shots of dancers in her basement. But she had a hard time learning how to use a camera. "No matter how simple, I didn't get it," she admits.
But having a darkroom, she was able to salvage her film exposures. Nothing quite like post-processing.
But exposing film wasn't the only hurdle she had to navigate. "Trying to stop the action. In available light? Gosh. That was so hard," she says.
Hard or not, she got some great shots, some of which we get to see in this very brief interview about her start in the business.
We were impressed with her candor. It reminded us of our own insurmountables. Especially in the beginning. But we always seem to be beginning.
We were also impressed by the Chicago Dance History Project. As the current administration continues its attacks on what are long overdue DEI initiatives, the Project proclaims on its home page:
Chicago Dance History Project stands resolutely with Black Lives Matter. We will continue to witness and document the contributions of African-Americans to dance in Chicago and across American culture. The individual oral histories of Black artists in Chicago must be heard and seen in order to understand the full story of race in our city's history. We thank the friends, artists and collaborators of all races and cultural communities who have contributed to Chicago Dance History Project. We understand the tools of our work to be fundamental in the pursuit of social justice. Our work is to listen, to learn and to share.
Indeed. You'd have to be a convicted felon not to agree.