My name is Jeff Phillips, and I am a photographer living and working in Chicago. I am a resident artist for CPS Lives, documenting the lives of students in the Chicago public school system. I serve as Board President for Filter Photo, and since 2009 I’ve helped produce the week-long Filter Photo Festival. I am the creator of the vernacular photography exhibition, Lost and Found: The Search for Harry and Edna.

I have lectured at Columbia College Chicago, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and other leading arts education institutions. I regularly present workshops about making photozines and books. I’ve presented my work to audiences at Pecha Kucha, SPE, ASMP, SXSW, and other conferences and festivals.

I hold an M.A. in Photography and Integrated Media and a B.A. in Applied Technology from DePaul University in Chicago.

Contact me to learn more about my photographs, to purchase a print, or to just say Hi.

Recent Exhibitions

Is This Your Mother? (2023) is a 60 x 10 ft. public exhibition of vernacular images and social media comments. This multi-year installation at St. Louis Lambert International Airport opened in December of 2022. Commissioned by Lambert Art & Culture program.

Our City Is A Garden (2020) is a 200 sq. ft. public mural made in collaboration with 15 Chicago high school students to create a public mural with themes of hope and unity. Originally installed in the Chicago Loop district, the mural is now is part of the permanent art collection at Howard Washington Library. Commissioned by Chicago Public Library Foundation.

Projected Domestics (2020) is a re-imagination of everyday domestic objects filmed while under Covid-19 lockdown. Projected through 12 large windows to a busy city street outside of my home. Created as an Art-in-Place installation for Terrain Exhibitions.

If I Could Show the World (2020) is a large photocollage mural, installed on the BMO Harris Bank building in the Chicago Loop. A collaboration with muralist Dorian Sylvain and students from public schools. Commissioned by CPS Lives.

No Place for Problem Children (2018–2021) is a large-scale projected exhibition of photographs from a two-year social documentary project about the lives of students in a public military high school in Chicago’s Near West Side neighborhood. Commissioned by CPS Lives.