Brad Temkin: Human Interventions in Landscape

Brad Temkin (Chicago, 1956) is an American photographer known for documenting the human impact on the landscape. He received a BFA in 1979 from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and a master’s degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago. His works are included in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Photography. His images have appeared in such publications as Aperture, Black & White Magazine, Time magazine, and European Photography. His first book, Private Places: Photographs of Chicago Gardens, was published in 2005. His other books are Rooftop (2015) and The State of Water (2019), both from Radius Books. He has been awarded numerous grants and fellowships including an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in 2007 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017. He teaches photography at Columbia College Chicago.

Photographer Brad Tempkin is broadly concerned with how contemporary landscapes have been altered by human activity. His series The State of Water covers how water governs human alterations to both natural and built environments in response to cultural needs. The Rooftop series was created to address what contemporary urban pioneers are doing to mitigate the consequences of non-renewable energy consumption and drawing attention to “living architecture.” His eye is informed by his years as a commercial photographer, and he is accustomed to seeking out unique vantage points that tend to produce iconic images.

Materials include photographic prints.

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