The COMP Magazine Ron Gordon - Preservationist Photographer

Ron Gordon has documented the Chicago urban landscape and its inhabitants for almost 40 years. His photographic practice is simple, direct, yet comprehensive. The COMP Magazine recently visited his Halsted studio on the eastern edge of Pilsen to discuss an array of items ranging from teaching photography at the IIT, historical preservation and the seminal portrait he made of African-American artist Mr. Imagination.

You’ve been producing work in Chicago for over 35 years. Can you describe your relationship to the city?

Make it 41 years. I date the first picture in my historic preservation series from 1974. It was of the Illinois Central Station at Roosevelt Road. This was station that i used to go through from my neighborhood on the Southeast side in the 1950’s. I grew up there and have lived in Chicago all of my life except for some time in Champaign and in France.

Ron Gordon, 12th Street Station, 1974

Ron Gordon, Dearborn Station 5, 1979

What do you value in the process of making photographs? Is there a specific philosophy that you consider that runs consistently throughout your work?

I guess it is the sense of preservation of history. I am often the last person to see and photograph a place or building so that it won’t be forgotten.

Ron Gordon, Comisk, 1991

In a number of your works, I see a sense of time, specifically in some of the demolition images made of buildings being torn down. Is this a correct analysis?

There is definitely a sense of time in my work. And this is probably true in photography in general. My father died when I was eleven and this gave me a sense of my own mortality. It turned out that many of my close friends have shared this sense of early parental loss. Time flies by and we want to leave a sense of ourselves behind.

Ron Gordon, Transportation Building, 1979

You’ve made some seminal images of a variety of artists. Can you describe the process of working with Mr. Imagination?

Mr. Imagination, Gregory Warmack, is a unique artist. He was a joy to be around. I always felt enriched by being around him. He uplifted everybody who came in contact with him. He was magical. He loved one of the earliest portraits I made of him and that bolstered my confidence so that is one thing that we traded with each other.

Ron Gordon, Mr. Imagination, 1991

What are you working upon currently? Do you have any upcoming projects, books or exhibitions?

I am participating in a show entitled “Welcome to the World of Mr. Imagination”, opening January 9th at the Intuit: Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art. I am also participating in a group show of Reader photographers at the Gage Gallery opening June 4th.

Ron Gordon, Jimmie Lee Robinson, October 2, 2000

Ron Gordon has owned a photography studio since 1973. Gordon taught photography to architectural students at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago from 1999 to 2010. His photographic work has been included in numerous gallery and museum exhibitions, as well as supported such film projects as “The River Runs Through It,” (1992) directed by Robert Redford and “The Music Box,” (1989) directed by Costa Garvas, among others

To view additional works by Ron Gordon, please visit:

Ron Gordon Photography: http://www.rongordonphoto.com/
Ron Gordon at the MoCP: http://www.mocp.org/collection/mpp/past/gordon_ron.php