365:Portraits - A Year in the Lives of Four Children by Photographer Robert H. Crites

The Art Institute of Philadelphia is proud to present 365:Portraits, a year in the lives of four children by Robert H. Crites, M.F.A., Academic Director of Photography at the college.

The exhibit will be on display in the 1622 Chestnut Street Gallery from September 10 - November 28, 2008.

An artist's reception for the exhibit will be held on Saturday, October 4 from 4:30pm - 7pm in the gallery.

There will also be a reception in connection with Center City District Gallery Night: 5pm - 8pm, Friday, October 17, 2008.

365:Portraits - A Year in the Lives of Four Children
On November 22, 1992, photographer Robert H. Crites decided to make a portrait of each of his four children every day for one year, a project many a parent has contemplated but few have carried out. Fourteen years later, this extraordinary and moving collection of images creates a journey both backwards and forwards in time. 365:Portraits will be on display in the 1622 Chestnut Street Gallery from September 10 through November 28, 2008.

Crites, now academic director of photography at The Art Institute of Philadelphia, says, "That year my eldest, Zachary was seven, Halston was five, and the twins Aja and Brielle were two years old. I wanted to spend a little time with each of them every day, to document what they look like, and to share a little bit of what I love to do, which is make photographs."

"From the beginning it was a challenging project. Each child reacted differently to the camera and many times their moods were not the best for picture making. I soon became overwhelmed by endless rolls of film and fell behind on the printing, but kept up the process of photographing each day. One year later I had amassed over four hundred rolls of film, which was neatly stored away in a leather brown bag."

Fourteen years later he approached the film was as if he had discovered a long-buried time capsule. As he began to review and scan the work from that pre-digital age he was amazed to see how the distinctive personalities of the children – now young adults – that had emerged over the years were so immediately evident in those portraits of them as children. 365:Portraits presents the year 1992-1993 in a unique format where the viewer will be able to "read" the photos both forwards and backwards, experiencing a single day in the life of all four children or following one child over the course of weeks and months, a personality unfurling like a flower in a stop-motion film.

About the Artist
Robert H. Crites is the academic director of photography at The Art Institute of Philadelphia and holds a BA in photography Ohio State and an MFA in photography from the University of Delaware. He has taught at University of the Arts, New Jersey School of the Arts, and Ocean County Community College and has had seventeen solo exhibitions of his work. He is the owner of Crites Photo Film + Digital photography and web development company. He lives with his family in Collingswood, New Jersey.