photography portfolio

Searching for Jehanne -The Joan of Arc Project

SUSANAURINKO

Susan Aurinko, photographer and curator, has shown her work in solo exhibitions in France, Italy, India, as well as in the US. Her exhibition about India, entitled STILL POINT INDIA, which opened in February 2013 at Kriti Gallery in Varanasi, toured India’s largest cities, and is now available as a book.  In 2007, the proposed cover image for the book STILL POINT INDIA won both a Jury and a Public Choice award from Px3 in Paris.  Aurinko’s work appears on several book covers, including The Stranger Among Us, Ariel, Scar Tissue, and Slut Lullabies, and four of her photographs are included in the Museum of Contemporary Photography’s permanent collection.  In addition, many of her images hang in private collections in France, Italy, India, Monaco, the UK, and across the US. 

Aurinko's "SEARCHING FOR JEHANNE" The Joan of Arc Project will be presented in a solo exhibition at LUMA (Loyola University Museum of Art) in Chicago in June 2017.  

Aurinko is on the Advisory Committee of the International Photography Awards (Lucie Awards) and has been an IPA and Px3 Juror for several years.

ARTIST STATEMENT:
When I was in Art School, I studied design.  I considered the world in terms of form, texture, and composition through a curriculum that was entirely in black and white for the first year.  In addition to teaching me to make art that was pure and crisply defined, with no color to distract, it taught me to actually SEE in black and white, a trait that has been an ongoing gift to me as a photographer. 
Later, I studied film, which I credit with creating the cinematic quality that weaves itself through the majority of my work.  Life is a narrative, and I find that powerful images often seem to be the illustrations for works of fiction.  Even though I am present at the moment I press the shutter, when I look at my images later, during editing, they often suggest stories to me that are not necessarily even related to the action being shot.   The camera does not necessarily tell the truth, but it does tell stories.

Not being one to pursue classic scenes or famous vistas, I like to think of my work as postcards from my internal dialogue, souvenirs of moments I have shared with only my camera. ​



  
SELECTED COLLECTIONS:                   
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY, Chicago - Permanent Collection, 4 pieces

                
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 

2014        
Dual Show, FALL INTO BED,  Cotelac, Chicago
Solo Show, Searching for Jehanne, Takohl Gallery, Chicago
(Named by New City as one of FIVE BEST PHOTO SHOWS OF 2014)

2013       
Solo Show, STILL POINT, INDIA, Kriti Gallery, opened in Varanasi, India, touring
major cities in India, sponsored by Kriti Gallery .

2010      
Solo show, Chicago Photography Center, Streetwork/Windows &Walls

Exquisite Pain – Solo installation at Finestra Art Space, Chicago

2009      
Binary – Featured exhibition for Chicago Artists Month, Curated by Lauren Levato

2008      
Solo Show, INDIA SONG, AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT, Th!nkArt Gallery, Chicago
Dual Show, PATTERNS, MORE PATTERNS, Ganges Art Gallery, Calcutta India

2007      
Dual Show, Ellen Curlee Gallery, St Louis, MO

2006      
Solo Show, Le Sale di Esposizione dei Molini, Citta di Portogruaro, Venice, Italy
Solo Show, Mars Gallery, Chicago
Solo Show, Paris in Black & White, BISTRO 110, Chicago

2005       
“Immagini d’Autore” di Marghera Fotografia, Marghera. Italy
Solo Show –Atelier Picassiette, Arles, France (for Rencontres d’Arles)

2003      
Mostly Text-Based -Solo Show, MARS GALLERY, Chicago
The World in My Eye - Solo Show, LAB ONE GALLERY, Chicago

2002      
The Waverly Gallery Exhibit, PEGASUS PLAYERS GALLERY, Chicago
Embracing Change, BERNARDO MARIGMAN GALLERY, Waukegan
Romance and Obsession, MARS GALLERY, Chicago

2001      
Ménage a Deux, FEITIÇO GALLERY, Chicago

1999      
Uptown / Celebrating Diversity - Solo Show UPTOWN NATIONAL BANK

1998      
Solo Show, Juxtapositions - POINT OF VIEW GALLERY, Chicago

1997      
Writing with Light - HOKIN GALLERY, Chicago

1996      
Photography Today - Harold Washington Gallery, Chicago


SELECTED COMMISSIONS

                  Dermatology Limited, Joliet, (26 commissioned images)

                  Catholic Charities, Chicago (6 commissioned images)

                  The 530 North Lakeshore Collection (4 commissioned images)

                  Uptown National Banks (All art for four Branches Including Main Bank)

                  Uptown Chamber of Commerce/UpCorp (Photos for 350 Street Banners)

                  Weiss Memorial Hospital (image commissioned for banners)

                 Chicago Transit Authority (Photographs for Bus Shelter Posters)


PUBLICATIONS

2004 - Mouth to Mouth Magazine - A Dialogue with Ann Baruch & Susan Aurinko
2003 - Named One of 25 People Making a Difference in the Arts in the Midwest by Dialogue Magazine


PUBLICATIONS (photographer)

Cover image for The Stranger Among Us, Other Voices Books (Short Story anthology)
Cover image for Slut Lullabies, Books (Gina Frangello)
Cover image and all inside images, Ariel, Literary Arts Journal
Cover for UK and US edition of Scar Tissue (David Skivington)

JURIES

2014 -    Sew Sari Design Competition, EYE ON INDIA FESTIVAL

                 Raymond Hudd Millinery Awards, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

                 International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

2013 –    International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

2012 -     International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

                  Raymond Hudd Millinery Awarrds, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

2011 -     Lakefront Festival of Arts, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI

                  Art Loop Open, Chicago, IL 

                  Driehaus Prize, Art Loop Open

                  Raymond Hudd Millinery Awards, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

                  Brainstorm/ A whole New Mind – Governers State University

                  International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

2010 -     International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

2009–     International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

NEIU Gallery, Annual Student Exhibition

PX3 Photo Awards, Paris, France

                  Projekt30 – Portrait Exhibition

                  Raymond Hudd Millinery Awarrds, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

2008 –    International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA 

                  CAF Newhouse Architectural Photography Awards Jury

2005 –    International Photography Awards (Lucies) NYC/LA

2007 –    Juror/Curator Photo 2007, Art Center Highland Park

1996- 2006 - Juror, Chicago City Sticker Competition

2001- 2009 - Critique Senior Photography Majors at Columbia College

2004-      Awards Juror - Wells Street Art Fair

2003        Juror - Wells Street Art Fair

2002-2005 & 2007- 2010 CAAP Grant Review Board, Department of Cultural Affairs

2002       Juror for Gold Coast Art Fair and 8 others through Amdur Productions

2002       PHOTO 2002, Sole Juror - Bloomingdale Art Museum

2001-      Alice and Arthur Baer Competition, One of Two Jurors - Beverly Art Center