Jane Fulton Alt
Encyclopedia
Jane Fulton Alt is an American
photographer who explores issues of love, loss, and spirituality in her work. Alt was the recipient of the 2007 Illinois Art Council
Fellowship Award and the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Ragdale Fellowship Award.
in 1951 and has been active in the arts much of her lifetime. She grew up with parents who were avid collectors and began actively exploring the visual arts while raising her own family. She studied at the Evanston Art Center, Columbia College
, and the Art Institute of Chicago
.
, Alt was acutely aware of the disastrous toll the BP
oil spill would take on all forms of life, especially as beaches opened to the 2010 swimming season. Inspired by the catastrophe, her resulting photographic series, Crude Awakening, featured powerful portraits of beach-goers drenched in an oil-like substance. The politically-charged work received worldwide attention and circulated all over the Internet, appearing on the websites of NBC Chicago, The Chicago Tribune, The Jerusalem Post
, Beijing News, El Nuevo Dia
, Repubblica
, Discovery's Treehugger
and others.
when she accompanied residents of the Lower Ninth Ward
to examine the damage to their houses as part of the “Look and Leave” program organized by the City of New Orleans and the American Red Cross. Her exhibition at the DePaul University Art Museum entitled “Look and Leave: New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina” was recognized as one of the Top 5 Photography Museum Shows in Chicago in 2006. Her work is published in the books Katrina Exposed and New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape (3rd ed), and also in American Tragedy: New Orleans Under Water (Callaloo 30, no 3, Summer 2007).
Alt's Katrina work culminated with the publication of her own book, Look and Leave: Photographs and Stories from New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, in 2009. The book received critical acclaim and was featured on 89.9 WWNO, NPR's New Orleans affiliate, and Chicago Tonight's "Arts Across Illinois" segment.
Her Katrina work has also been featured on NPR's Chicago station.
, the Southeast Museum of Photography
in Daytona, Florida, the Museum of Fine Arts
in Houston, the New Orleans Museum of Art
, Yale University Beinecke Library
, DePaul University
Art Museum, Centro Fotografico Alvarez Bravo in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Dancing Bear collection of William Hunt and the Midwest Print Project of the Museum of Contemporary Photography
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
photographer who explores issues of love, loss, and spirituality in her work. Alt was the recipient of the 2007 Illinois Art Council
Illinois Arts Council
The Illinois Arts Council is a government agency of the state of Illinois formed to encourage development of the arts throughout Illinois. Founded in 1965 by the Illinois General Assembly, the Illinois Arts Council provides financial and technical assistance to artists, arts organizations, and...
Fellowship Award and the 2007, 2008 and 2009 Ragdale Fellowship Award.
Biography
Jane Fulton Alt was born in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1951 and has been active in the arts much of her lifetime. She grew up with parents who were avid collectors and began actively exploring the visual arts while raising her own family. She studied at the Evanston Art Center, Columbia College
Columbia College Chicago
Columbia College Chicago is one of the largest art colleges in the United States with nearly 12,000 students pursuing degrees within 120 undergraduate and graduate programs...
, and the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
.
Crude Awakening
Living on the shores of Lake MichiganLake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
, Alt was acutely aware of the disastrous toll the BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
oil spill would take on all forms of life, especially as beaches opened to the 2010 swimming season. Inspired by the catastrophe, her resulting photographic series, Crude Awakening, featured powerful portraits of beach-goers drenched in an oil-like substance. The politically-charged work received worldwide attention and circulated all over the Internet, appearing on the websites of NBC Chicago, The Chicago Tribune, The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
, Beijing News, El Nuevo Dia
El Nuevo Día
El Nuevo Día is a Puerto Rican newspaper based in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico and distributed daily throughout Puerto Rico and some parts of the United States.- History :...
, Repubblica
Repubblica
Repubblica may refer to:*La Repubblica, an Italian newspaper*Republica, a misspelling of an English rock band*Repubblica , fictional country from the comedy The Fast Show, where Chanel 9 television channel is situated...
, Discovery's Treehugger
TreeHugger
TreeHugger is a prominent sustainability website. It was rated the top sustainability blog of 2007 by Nielsen Netratings,and was included in Time Magazine's 2009 blog index as one of the top twenty-five blogs....
and others.
Katrina
Jane Fulton Alt is also a clinical social worker who has been in practice since the 1970s. She bridged her professions in New Orleans following Hurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
when she accompanied residents of the Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal; however, the City Planning Commission divides this...
to examine the damage to their houses as part of the “Look and Leave” program organized by the City of New Orleans and the American Red Cross. Her exhibition at the DePaul University Art Museum entitled “Look and Leave: New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina” was recognized as one of the Top 5 Photography Museum Shows in Chicago in 2006. Her work is published in the books Katrina Exposed and New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape (3rd ed), and also in American Tragedy: New Orleans Under Water (Callaloo 30, no 3, Summer 2007).
Alt's Katrina work culminated with the publication of her own book, Look and Leave: Photographs and Stories from New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, in 2009. The book received critical acclaim and was featured on 89.9 WWNO, NPR's New Orleans affiliate, and Chicago Tonight's "Arts Across Illinois" segment.
Her Katrina work has also been featured on NPR's Chicago station.
Exhibitions
Alt has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally including solo exhibitions in Chicago (Chicago Cultural Center, Artemisia Gallery, Flatfile Gallery, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Depaul University Art Museum, Frontera Grill/Topolobampo Restaurant, Morton College, Art Chicago), San Francisco (Corden/Potts Gallery), Poland (International Festival of Photography) and Syria (International Photography Festival).Publications
- Alt, Jane Fulton. "Look and Leave: Photographs and Stories from New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward." UGA Press, 2009. ISBN 978-1930066908.
- Asensi, Matilde, The Last Cato: A Novel. Rayo, 2006. ISBN 978-0060828578. Alt's photo is featured on the cover of the book.
- Boyd, Terry, City 2000. 1st Ed. 3 Book Publishing, Distributed by University of Illinois Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0252031779. Alt is one of 39 photographers whose works are shown.
- Maklansky, Steven, ed. Katrina Exposed: A Photographic Reckoning. New Orleans Museum of Art, 2006: Exhibition Catalogue. ISBN 089494102X.
- McEwan, Ian, First Love, Last Rites. New Ed Edition Vintage, 2006. ISBN 978-0099754817 (paper). Alt's photo is featured on the cover of the 2006 paper edition.
Permanent collections
Alt's work can be found in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Photographic History Collection at the National Museum of American HistoryNational Museum of American History
The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific and military history. Among the items on display are the original Star-Spangled Banner and Archie Bunker's...
, the Southeast Museum of Photography
Southeast Museum of Photography
The Southeast Museum of Photography is located in Daytona Beach, Florida, on the campus of Daytona State College. It opened in 1992, and moved to a new facility in 2007....
in Daytona, Florida, the Museum of Fine Arts
Museum of Fine Arts
The Museum of Fine Arts may refer to:* Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, United States** Museum of Fine Arts , which is near the museum* Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, United States...
in Houston, the New Orleans Museum of Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
The New Orleans Museum of Art is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the "Canal Street - City Park" streetcar line...
, Yale University Beinecke Library
Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library was a 1963 gift of the Beinecke family. The building was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft of the firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and is the largest building in the world reserved exclusively for the preservation of rare books...
, DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
Art Museum, Centro Fotografico Alvarez Bravo in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Dancing Bear collection of William Hunt and the Midwest Print Project of the Museum of Contemporary Photography
Museum of Contemporary Photography
The Museum of Contemporary Photography was founded in 1984 by Columbia College Chicago. It is well known for an active program and curating which discovers many emerging and mid-career artists...
.