Lori Furey, from the series “Ordinary People”

Dona Schwartz
Calgary, AB

Size

26" x 36"

Medium

Archival inkjet photographic print, framed

Initiated through a commission from Contemporary Calgary, “Ordinary People” proceeds from Yoko Ono’s instruction to photograph “Ordinary people, people that you walk by every day without really noticing.” This raised a host of questions. Rather than judge who is ordinary, I started with myself and then invited acquaintances I’ve met walking my dog to participate. Each person referred me to another ‘ordinary’ person to photograph. The series raises questions about self-concepts, identities, and labels, as well as social networks and boundaries of lived communities. It prompts reflection upon who and what we may take for granted every day.

Lori Furey, from the series “Ordinary People”

Dona Schwartz
Calgary, AB

About the artist
About the artist

Dona Schwartz
Calgary, AB

Dona Schwartz uses photography to explore everyday life and culture. She received her PhD at the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania. She has published four books: Waucoma Twilight: Generations of the Farm (Smithsonian, 1992), Contesting the Super Bowl (Routledge, 1997), In the Kitchen (Kehrer, 2009), and On the Nest (Kehrer, 2015). Her work is included in many collections, among them the Library of Congress; the Museum of Fine Arts Houston; the George Eastman Museum; the Portland Art Museum; and the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ. Schwartz is a Professor at the Department of Art and Art History, University of Calgary.

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