Groundbreaking photographer Howard Simmons' work on display at Oak Park Public Library
Meet a man who sees life through a lens of beauty. Howard Simmons was one of the first Black photographers for the Chicago Sun-Times. Now, the 81-year-old photographer is opening up his portfolio to the public in west suburban Oak Park.
When Simmons looks through a lens, he finds a lot to love, and it never gets old.
"I'll repeat myself. I love photography," he said.
He's loved it for a long time.
In the 1960s, he borrowed a friend's Agfa Ansco folding camera to capture his first photos while on leave from the Air Force.
"This is an old camera. Now, I know I'm old, but these cameras were not conventional then," he said. "The pictures were sharp, and I fell in love."
A self-taught photographer, he won his first contest in 1965.
His amateur portfolio landed him a professional job in Chicago at Ebony, one of the first nationally distributed magazines for the African American community.
"The Black publication, period, in the country, if not the world," Simmons said.
His work graced the cover more than once, but his first assignment might be his most memorable – a photo of a toddler in a diaper holding a cooking pot. It was taken in 1968 in Jackson, Mississippi.
"This baby stepped outside the door. How could I miss shooting that?" he said. "Probably is the best photograph I've taken."
After nine months and 40 out-of-town assignments on the road with Ebony, Simmons settled down with the Chicago Sun-Times.
"I was the second Black photographer for the Sun-Times," he said.
He worked there a decade before starting a commercial photography business, shooting ads for major brands.
"That was my first love," he said.
Now, a selection of his favorite images, curated from tens of thousands of negatives, are on display at the Oak Park Library as part of series celebrating Black History Month; a snapshot of a life lived behind a lens.
"It's taken me places. It's given me experiences," Simmons said of his career in photography.
The exhibit is called "Stories My Camera Tells." Much of the work is being displayed for the very first time. The exhibit runs through Saturday.
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