Jon Lowenstein

Biography

Jon Lowenstein specializes in long-term, in-depth documentary explorations that confront the realms of power, poverty, and social violence. Through the integral combination of photography, moving images, experiential prose and personal testimonials, he strives for unsparing clarity by revealing the subjects of history that lack voice.

Lowenstein’s commitment to social justice through community engagement runs deep. He has spent the past decade engaging his adopted community on Chicago’s South Side. This extensive body of work challenges accepted notions about community, poverty and the legacy of violence and segregation. Ultimately, he explores the social distance between hope and despair. The South Side is a true, integrative expression of a uniquely American time and place that opens new dialogic and physical spaces in which to engage both the local and global community. In full collaboration with his fellow South Siders, he will build the South Side Imagination Center, which will create a unique documentary and athletic dream space out of the ruins of an abandoned building. Click for more about Jon.