How Do You Handle A Hungry Man?, from Al A Mode, a graduate portfolio from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Maker Ferguson, Jim (American, 1954-2022)

Date1979

MediumGelatin silver print

Dimensionsimage: 9 in x 13 in; overall: 12 in x 17 in; paper: 10 7/8 in x 13 15/16 in

Credit LineGift of Richard Doherty

Object number2009:319.10

About the ArtistAt the age of two, Jim Ferguson underwent corrective eye surgery that left him permanently without depth perception. In this series, he takes advantage of the camera’s ability to distinctly collapse three dimensions into two. Ferguson’s work presents flattened views of architectural spaces and landscapes as he sees them—where no one part of any space is in visual hierarchy over another. Dealing with dimensions of space or implementing a lack thereof, many of Ferguson’s images are abstract, depicting the convergence of different spatial elements of an environment.

Jim Ferguson completed his MFA at the School of Art Institute Chicago. He has been published in the F-Stop Magazine on multiple occasions from 2018-2021. Ferguson has also exhibited and has work in permanent collections nationally and internationally, including in the School of Art Institute Chicago, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico, and Galerie Licht, Invitational Show in Borupvej, Denmark, 1978.