Photographing Frank Lloyd Wright is the first exhibition to present the fascinating and unexplored topic of Wright’s own early photography as well as images by the leading photographers who documented his work. Frank Lloyd Wright had a fascination with photography, viewing it as a hobby as well as a way for his architecture to reach a broad public. With photos that appeared in publications such as LIFE magazine and Architectural Forum, the exhibition offers insights into how photography influenced public perception of his work. Photographing Frank Lloyd Wright is organized by the Driehaus Museum with guest curator David Hanks, and will be on view at the Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie Street from October 24, 2024 to January 5, 2025.

Driehaus Museum Executive Director Lisa M. Key states, “As a museum of art, architecture, and design, the museum is fulfilling its mission by offering this unique exhibition that will enlighten Wright experts and enthusiasts alike, who will discover something new about this great architect whose story began here in Chicago.”

Guest Curator David Hanks adds, “This exhibition offers a new way of viewing Wright’s work and provides insight into how the creative approach of each photographer was shaped by their understanding of his architecture.”

Frank Lloyd Wright instinctively understood the power and potential of photography, relying on it to share his aesthetic vision and shape his public image. Although his architecture has been the subject of many exhibitions, none have surveyed Wright’s work through the eyes of the leading photographers with whom he collaborated. Furthermore, no exhibition has addressed the subject of Wright, himself, as a photographer.

Photographing Frank Lloyd Wright begins with the topic of Wright as a talented amateur photographer experimenting with new technology. Wright purchased a camera in the late nineteenth century, using it to capture landscapes and nature, family and friends, and the traditional architecture that inspired him during a 1905 trip to Japan. Early in his career, Wright also created self-portraits, carefully composed to express a confident, successful persona. New discoveries in the exhibition include a selection of Wright’s images depicting daily life and activities at the Hillside Home School in Wisconsin, which was owned by his aunts.

The exhibition is organized thematically by the leading photographers who documented Wright’s career and includes Wright’s own photography. These compelling images, published in magazines and books, helped him attain widespread visibility and contributed to his fame. Architectural photographers in the exhibition include Henry Fuermann & Sons, Julius Shulman, Hedrich-Blessing, Ezra Stoller and Pedro Guerrero.

Also included are Torkel Korling and Edmund Teske, whose lesser-known images of Wright’s work will be a new discovery for many visitors. In addition to the architectural photographs, the exhibition presents Wright’s furniture and decorative arts alongside images of the interiors for which he designed them, demonstrating his concept of design unity.

To complement the exhibition, the Museum is producing a series of audio commentaries about Wright’s photography that will be available on the Museum’s app. Lisa Key says, “We are very excited about the creation of new interpretive audio from a diverse range of experts that will engage a more expansive group of visitors.” Among the experts to be featured are Lee Bey, Chicago Sun-Times architectural critic and author; Judith Bromley, architectural photographer; Jennifer Grey, architectural historian, Taliesin Institute; Kathryn Smith, independent Wright scholar; Ken Tadashi Oshima, Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington, and Chicago Humanities’ co-Creative Director Lauren M. Pacheco.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, Chicago, is a collaborating partner in Photographing Frank Lloyd Wright. For the duration of the exhibition, the Driehaus Museum and the Trust will offer reciprocal member benefits that include admission to the Driehaus Museum, the Robie House Museum, and Wright’s Home and Studio Museum. The Driehaus Museum and the Trust are also collaborating on several public programs and educational series that include exclusive half-day tours of the exhibition and Wright sites, an educators’ evening, and other engaging dialogues.