Joseph D. Jachna

Joseph Jachna

1935 -- 2016

In the era before digital manipulation of images, photographer Joseph Jachna used time exposure, natural light, mirrors and a distorting lens to create surreal and often mystical images.

A 1958 graduate of the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Jachna studied under Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind and Frederick Sommer, among the first artist-photographers in the Midwest.

"That was a profoundly influential time for Joe, when he began exploring photography as a means of expression," said Elizabeth Siegel, associate curator of photography at the Art Institute of Chicago, who met Jachna while working on the "Taken by Design" exhibit of some of his earliest photos in 2002. "I remember there were tears in his eyes as he talked with me about that period in his life."

The Chicago-born photographer's work won him an international reputation and numerous grants, as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1976 and the Guggenheim Foundation in 1980.

Jachna, 80, of Oak Lawn, a professor of photography at the University of Illinois at Chicago for more than three decades, died of pancreatic cancer on March 14, at Lexington Center, a nursing facility in Chicago Ridge.

"He was a very modest, thoughtful man," Siegel said. "He'd reflect a lot on not only what it meant to be a photographer but also a husband, a father and person in general."

Jachna, whose photographs often captured the ethereal abstractions found in the patterns of trees, rocks, shadows and water, took many of his photos during family camping trips throughout the Midwest and Colorado, along with places as far-flung as Iceland.

"One thing I became aware of as I looked through years of contact sheets is that I photographed my family's feet everywhere we went — on a log, on a rock, at the beach," he told the Tribune in 1994.

One of Jachna's best-known series, "Door County Landscapes," consists of photographs in which he inserted small, hand-held mirrors and his own hands and feet into the landscape, photographing them with an ultrawide 18 mm lens.

"When I look backward to many picture-making sessions, I'm aware of two things simultaneously," Jachna wrote in an essay in the late 1970s for the catalog of the exhibit "Spaces" at the Museum of Art at the Rhode Island School of Design. "Firstly, that I was often extremely uncertain about what I was doing and even less certain about the result. ... At the same time, I must have been acting under some very clear subconscious directives and with precise intentions."

"Joe loved experimenting with his photography, always exploring the unknown, with nature as one of his favorite subjects," said Virginia, his wife of 53 years.

Jachna grew up in the West Pullman neighborhood of Chicago. His father was a steelworker. As a boy he took pictures as a hobby but was focused on electronics during his four years at Chicago Vocational High School.

"It was the time to be in electronics, and then I surprised myself and went to college in photography," he told the Tribune in 1994. "I don't know why. It's like asking, 'How do you fall in love?'"

He received a newspaper carrier's scholarship to attend the Institute of Design in 1953 but left after one year to work at the local Eastman Kodak lab. He returned to the school in 1955 and earned a bachelor's degree in art education. He received a master's degree in 1961.

That same year his thesis photographs — an in-depth photographic study of water — were featured in a special issue of Aperture magazine.

"I love his water series," Siegel said. "It has freshness but also a maturity beyond that of a student his age."

In 1961, Jachna signed on as an instructor at the Institute of Design, before joining the faculty at UIC in 1969. He retired from teaching at the university in 2001.

His photos have been featured at numerous galleries throughout the city, as well as many others around the country. His work, most recently, is being represented by the Stephen Daiter Gallery on the North Side.

In addition to his wife, Jachna is survived by two sons, Timothy and Jody; a daughter, Heidi; a brother, Roger; a sister, Shirley Brady; and three grandchildren.

A visitation is set for 9:30 a.m. May 21 at Chapel Hill Gardens South Funeral Home, 11333 S. Central Ave., Oak Lawn, with services at 11:30 a.m.

Joan Giangrasse Kates is a freelance reporter.

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JACHNA JOSEPH DAVID - Chicago Tribune Death Notice - Sunday March 27, 2016

Joseph D. Jachna 80, of Oak Lawn, IL passed away March 14, 2016. He was born Sept. 12,1935 in Chicago to the Joseph J. Jachna and Estelle Sokolowska. He is survived by his wife of 53 years Virginia (nee Kemper) and their 3 children, Timothy (Wantanee), Heidi and Jody (Carolyn) and 3 grandchildren, Meghan, Johanna and Justin. Also his sister Shirley (Patrick) Brady and brother Roger (Ruth) Jachna, as well as nieces, nephews and countless other family and friends. Joseph holds an Emeritus Professorship at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he taught photography from 1969 to 2001. He earned an M.S. from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology where he studied with Aaron Siskind and Harry Callahan and where he taught prior to teaching at UIC. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation and is represented by Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago. Celebration of Life Visitation will be held on May 21, 2016 at Chapel Hills Gardens South Funeral Home 11333 S. Central Ave.. Oak Lawn, Il. from 9:30am until time of Service at 11:30 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to Arbor Day Foundation or the Nature Conservancy. Info 708-636-1200 or www.chapelhillgardens south.com