Eleanor and Barbara, Chicago

Harry Callahan

1954, printed 1970s · Gelatin silver print · Photographs

Muses throughout his career, Callahan’s wife and daughter played, posed, and aged before his lens. With their attention to the physicality of light, however, Callahan’s photographs transcend mere family portraiture by calling attention to the simple beauty of life’s fleeting moments. "He just liked to take the pictures of me," Eleanor recalled in her nineties. "In every pose. Rain or shine. And whatever I was doing. If I was doing the dishes or if I was half asleep. And he knew that I never, never said no. I was always there for him. Because I knew that Harry would only do the right thing." Eleanor Callahan died in February 2012 at the age of ninety-five.

Artist

Harry Callahan

Date

1954, printed 1970s

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gift of Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1993