Robert Stiegler: Photographs

Stephen Daiter Gallery is pleased to present Robert Stiegler: Photographs.

Chicago-native, Robert Stiegler, was a photographer, educator, and filmmaker. Stiegler got his start in a darkroom at Lane Tech High School. At the recommendation of his photo teacher, Charles E. Cooper, he went on to attend the Institute of Design (ID) in 1956. He studied with the famed photography teaching duo, Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, and his peers included Joe Jachna, Kenneth Josephson, Charles Swedlund and Ray Metzker. These students came out of the ID and went on to greatly influence the medium, whether through teaching, exhibiting, or publishing. After working for various photographers and joining the army, Stiegler returned to the ID in 1966 to obtain his Master’s in photography. He taught photography at University of Illinois, Chicago with close colleagues Joe Jachna and Wayne Boyer. Throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s Stiegler had numerous film showings, exhibitions, workshops, and lectures. He received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grant in 1980 and an artist’s grant from the Illinois Arts Council in 1983. His work was widely published and is included in the collections at Art Institute of Chicago, Museum of Modern Art in New York and George Eastman House in Rochester, among many others. Stiegler taught and continued to make work until his death in 1990, giving him a relatively short but full career.

On view at the gallery are over thirty-five vintage photographs, all printed by Robert Stiegler in his lifetime. Stiegler was dedicated to the craft of fine print making and often pulled all-nighters in the darkroom to get his prints perfect. The images exhibited range from nuanced 1950s street photographs of Chicago’s city life and urban landscapes, to revealing and abstract studies of bridges. A main theme of these early works is that the light plays a major role within each image. In the 1960s, Stiegler focused on documenting humanity, making images in Chicago, Europe, and beyond.