About Douglas
Douglas R. Gilbert has been a serious photographer since the age of fourteen. When he was twenty-one, he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazines history. A few years later, he left Look to work as an artist and has since had his work published in countless national and international publications such as LIFE, The Saturday Evening Post and Glamour.
His work is in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena CA, and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, as well as in many private and institutional collections. Forever Young, a group of photographs from an unpublished Look story is his fourth book. His complete body of work is archived at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. He lives with his wife in Grand Haven, MI.
Enjoy this insightful interview with Douglas from 2012 (PDF)
Process
Although I have worked with film sizes from 35mm to 4×5, I return to the 35mm format for my project work. My equipment is minimal, but meets my needs perfectly. I use 2 Leica M6 cameras, a 35mm Leica Summicron lens, a 50mm Summicron lens, a portable tripod, Ilford Delta 100 film and a camera bag. Using just those two lenses means I must get close, into the “space” of whatever I”m photographing. This allows me to feel the space and experience it in a way that standing back wouldn”t allow.
Education
1993 M.S.W. Salem State College. Salem, MA.
1972 M. S. Photography. Institute of Design. Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL.
1964 B.A. Social Sciences and Art. Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI.
Professional Experience
1960-present Photographer
1972-1982 Assistant Prof. Of Art. Wheaton College, IL.
1967-1972 Freelance photographer. New York City, NY and Chicago, IL.
1964-1967 Staff photographer. LOOK Magazine. New York City, NY.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016 Leica Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. “Italian Light”
2014 C2C Gallery, Grand Haven, MI. selected images from “Italian Light”
2014 South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI. “Bob Dylan: Forever Young”
2014 Convent of the Servite Order, Orvieto, Italy. “Light from Light”
2012 Adams Gallery, Wheaton College, IL. “Italian Light”
2010 Holland Museum & Archives, Holland, MI. “Bob Dylan: Forever Young”
2010 Sao Paolo Gallery, Gordon College, Orvieto, Italy. “Italian Light”
2006 Farmani Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. “Street Shots: New York’s Financial District in 1965”
2005 Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston, MA. “Bob Dylan: Unscripted”
2005 The Perfect Exposure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. “Bob Dylan: Unscripted”
2003-2004 The Lobby for the Arts Gallery, Amesbury, MA. “Selections from the Italy Collection”
2003 The Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts, Gordon College, Wenham, MA. “Selections from the Italy and Dangerous Beauty Collections”
2001 Istituto San Lodovico. Orvieto, Italy. “A Dangerous Beauty”. Black and white photographs of New England gardens
2000 The Home Gallery, Downriver Council for the Arts, Taylor, MI.”Orvieto, Umbria, Italy”
1999 Istituto San Lodovico. Orvieto, Italy. “Orvieto and Vicinity”
1987 Auginbaugh Gallery, Messiah College, PA. New England domestic architecture
1984 Maritime Museum, Newburyport, MA. 19th Century New England Domestic Architecture
1983 Wisteriahurst Museum, Holyoke, MA. Early 20th Century Memorial Chapel Architecture
1981 The Gilbert Gallery, Chicago, IL. “The American Wilderness”
1978 The Art Institute of Chicago, IL. “Spaces and Intersections”
Selected Group Exhibition
2015 Illinois Institute of Technology, Institute of Design, Chicago, IL. “A Lasting Vision: Photographs from the ID 1971-2001”
2015 South Haven Center for the Arts, South Haven, MI. “Face2Face”
2015 Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA. “Living Arrangements”
2014 The Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA. “Face It: The Photographic Portrait”
2007 Sande Webster Gallery, Philadelphia, PA. “Documentary Photography”
2006-2007 The Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA. “The Collectable Moment”
2006-2007 Farmani Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. Holiday Group Show
2005 Sony Ericsson Proud Galleries, London, U.K. “The Official Bob Dylan Exhibition”
2000 The Stage Gallery, Merrick, NY
1987 The Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1981 The Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Australia
1980 The Gilbert Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1980 Bertha Urdang Gallery, New York City, NY. “Black and White Photographs”
1979 The Atlanta Gallery of Photography, Atlanta, GA.
1978 The University of Maryland Art Gallery, College Park, MD
1975 N.A.M.E. Gallery, Chicago, IL.
1974 The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
1970 The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C
Collections
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL.
The Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA.
Continental Bank, Chicago, IL.
The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA.
American Art Collection, Wheaton College, IL.
Auginbaugh Gallery Collection, Messiah College, PA.
The Downriver Council for the Arts. Taylor, MI.
Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA.
Permanent Installation: St. Patrick-St. Anthony”s Parish, Grand Haven, MI.
Numerous private collections.
Books
The Development of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Inside the Atria in Rome. With Sofia Cavalletti. Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications. 2014
Forever Young: Photographs of Bob Dylan. With Dave Marsh. DaCapo Press: New York: 2005 Paperback edition: 2006
C. S. Lewis: Images of His World. With Clyde Kilby. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids: 1973 Revised edition published 2005
Flannery O’Connor: Images of Grace. With Harold Fickett. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids: 1985
The Steps of Bonhoeffer: A Pictorial Album. With J. Martin Bailey. United Church Press, Philadelphia: 1969 hardcover edition. Macmillan Company, New York: 1971 paperback edition.