Brad Temkin

The small gardens have bits and pieces of the person who owns them; found objects that are dear to them, keepsakes, statues, and personal items that reveal the person behind it. -Brad Temkin

Brad Temkin's series, "Private Places," documents small backyard gardens in Chicago that have been created, arranged, and lovingly tended by their owners. These highly-saturated large-format color photographs investigate the juxtaposition of the natural and artificial, as well as offer a furtive glimpse into private spaces. For ten years prior to this series, Temkin created black and white studies throughout the world that explore the people and the form of the land. In Brad Temkin: A Portfolio, 1992, he explores small, often unnoticed places and hidden "mini environments" within larger landscapes.

Brad Temkin was born in 1956 in Chicago. He received a BFA in photography from Ohio University (1979) and an MFA in photography from the University of Illinois at Chicago (1981). Temkin's work is held in the collections of institutions including the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He has exhibited at venues including the Chicago Cultural Center; the Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, Canada; Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago; and the Midtown Y Photography Gallery, New York. Temkin currently resides in Skokie, Illinois and teaches photography at Columbia College Chicago.

Text © Museum of Contemporary Photography, 2018