Yasuhiro Ishimoto: Someday, Chicago examines the work of American-born photographer Yasuhiro Ishimoto (1921–2012) through the lens of Chicago, where Ishimoto lived for nearly a decade and where he would continue to return throughout his life. Celebrated by many as one of the most influential photographers of Japan in the 20th century, Ishimoto also maintained deep ties to his adopted home city where he arrived in 1945 after having been interned during World War II. It was in Chicago that he first developed his uniquely modernist vision—both at the historic Institute of Design (ID) in dialogue with László Moholy-Nagy, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, and other teachers there; and in the city’s streets, where he captured changes reflective of broader societal shifts happening across the United States. By exploring the impact of his work—and in particular of his Someday, Somewhere and Chicago, Chicago photograph series—this project suggests how Ishimoto spread his vision beyond Chicago and the United States, and into an international arena.

The exhibition is guest-curated by John Tain, Head of Research at the Asia Art Archive; and Jasmine Alinder, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.