Фотограф Кенн Кук младший представляет фотовыставку, возвращающую гордость жителям западного Чикаго

Driving through the broken streets of Chicago’s West Side with photographer Kenn Cook Jr. in the navigator’s seat as we toured his outdoor exhibition, I realized that art is everywhere. The appreciation from native West Siders has apparently been overwhelming—not only are they excited to see themselves in print but are proud enough of their neighborhood to value Cook’s respect and esteem for them and the place they call home. I knew of Cook’s work through Filter Photo, where he served a year-long residency during which he twice had work published in the New York Times. He has since covered Reverend Jesse Jackson’s funeral for NPR, but I learned there is so much more to Kenn Cook Jr. In addition to the outdoor exhibition that we traversed the West Side to view, Cook published a zine called “From the Westside, With Love.” More elegant than we commonly think of zines, it is a beautifully produced collection of Cook’s work, with the addition of author Mark Allen Boone’s foreword, a two-page work of fiction by Alexie Young from Art West and a poem, “Where I’m From,” by poet/filmmaker Magan Loren Marshall that moved me to tears. Thanks to generous grants from the Chicago Public Library and the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, this book, an edition of 300, took form, and Cook’s heartfelt view of his neighborhood was published. Many of the zine’s images appear on the panoramic outdoor collages of photographs that hang on fences in the following places we viewed on our tour of the multi-location exhibition: 501 North Central and 5823 West Chicago Avenue in the Austin neighborhood, 2651 West Lake Street in East Garfield Park, 114 South Garfield in West Garfield Park and at the corner of West Arthington Street and South Homan in North Lawndale. In each area, the black-and-white banners stand out against the metal fences and the grit of the neighborhood, proclaiming the pride of Cook and the residents for their home turf. Several of Cook’s West Side images are also included in the MoCP’s upcoming exhibition “If Emmett Till Lived.” One of the standout images from both the exhibition and the zine is the cover image—an extreme closeup of a wide smile embellished with several nose rings, teeth sparkling with applied rhinestones and one painted pinky nail, painted with tiger stripes, poised at the mouth’s corner, aptly titled “Smile.” Another strong image is titled “A Starr,” in which a lovely young woman stares directly into the lens with a look that’s part distrust, part pride and part curiosity, her eyebrows slit (shaved), hair beautifully done with braided extensions both over and under a headband. A simple but eloquent image, titled “Holding History,” shows a strong Black hand atop the worn newel post of a staircase. There are so many stories in that post—I imagine all the hands that have held it going up those stairs. I imagine all the hands that have tapped it for luck, swung off the last steps clasping it firmly, all it has seen in that walkup apartment building on the West Side of Chicago. Kenn Cook Jr. gives us his neighborhood and, in doing so, gives pride of place back to its residents. “From the Westside, With Love: Kenn Cook Jr.” at 501 North Central, 5823 West Chicago, 2651 West Lake, 114 South Pulaski, West Arthington and South Homan, through (at least) the end of September.