Almost 80 years ago, towards the end of World War II, a U.S. soldier stationed in rural West Bengal grabbed his Speed Graphic 4x5” press camera, hopped into a jeep and went off into the countryside to photograph. Who was he? Why did he leave his airbase to do that? We have no idea. What we do know is that he created remarkable images. And how did a shoebox full of 127 of his beautiful negatives and prints made in India in 1945 end up at an estate sale in Chicago many years later? Curators Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral made that serendipitous find and have been “following the box” ever since.
In 2004, Alan taught a class on Photography and Anthropology at Lake Forest College that resulted in the first exhibit of these photographs. In 2011, guided by anthropologists at the University of Chicago, Alan and Jerri made a preliminary research trip to India to begin to unravel the mystery. In 2013, they were awarded a Fulbright-Nehru grant to continue the work. They spent five months in India and determined that the photographs were made by a U.S. soldier stationed at the Salua airfield, a once secret American base near Kharagpur, India. The photographer was associated with the 10th Photographic Technical Unit of the XX Bomber Command, which operated in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. The unit worked from 1942-1945 preparing for a possible invasion of Japan. With the end of the war in Europe and the decision to drop the atomic bomb, the unit was dissolved. May 1945 was a transitional period, while the men were waiting to be reassigned. It seems likely that this collection of images was made then as a personal project by one of the unit's reconnaissance photographers.
These images provide a window into an India that has changed dramatically in some areas while remaining the same in others. Following the Box is visual story telling across space, time and culture, a mystery tale of old photographs and new artistic interpretations.
In 2004, Alan taught a class on Photography and Anthropology at Lake Forest College that resulted in the first exhibit of these photographs. In 2011, guided by anthropologists at the University of Chicago, Alan and Jerri made a preliminary research trip to India to begin to unravel the mystery. In 2013, they were awarded a Fulbright-Nehru grant to continue the work. They spent five months in India and determined that the photographs were made by a U.S. soldier stationed at the Salua airfield, a once secret American base near Kharagpur, India. The photographer was associated with the 10th Photographic Technical Unit of the XX Bomber Command, which operated in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. The unit worked from 1942-1945 preparing for a possible invasion of Japan. With the end of the war in Europe and the decision to drop the atomic bomb, the unit was dissolved. May 1945 was a transitional period, while the men were waiting to be reassigned. It seems likely that this collection of images was made then as a personal project by one of the unit's reconnaissance photographers.
These images provide a window into an India that has changed dramatically in some areas while remaining the same in others. Following the Box is visual story telling across space, time and culture, a mystery tale of old photographs and new artistic interpretations.
Recent News
Following the Box closed at the Lilley Museum on Sept. 17 after a successful run. We are now exploring future venues and will post news of the next installation!
Only a week left to see the exhibit in Reno! One more chance to be part of a curator's walk-through, where we tell stories about how this remarkable exhibit came to be. And a special concert featuring Max ZT and Priya Darshini on Sept. 15. https://www.unr.edu/art/museum/events
The exhibit opened at the beautiful John & Geraldine Lilley Museum on the campus of the University of Nevada in Reno on July 15. It will run until September 17.
- We will be screening our film on July 27 at 5:30pm.
- Sunandini Banerjee workshop on July 28 at 1pm; artist talk at 6pm.
- Curators' walk through with Sunandini Banerjee on July 29 at 5:30pm.
- Performance by Priya Darshini and Max ZT on September 15.
- Film screening and curators' walk through on September 16 at 5:30pm.
The Following the Box exhibit was at the Pacific Asia Museum of the University of Southern California at Pasadena from September 13, 2019 to February 2, 2020. Thousands got to see this unique exhibition. The museum commissioned an Indian choreographer to create a dance based on the photos, and the education department worked with local schools to have students create soundscapes and mini-exhibits based on the work in Following the Box. An amazing example of how creativity spawns more creativity!
Following the Box closed at the beautiful Loyola University Museum of Art on Saturday, October 20th after a successful 3+ month run.
Special tour of the exhibit on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1pm with Sarbajit Sen and Curators Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral.
Join us for a film screening and panel discussion on Tuesday, Oct. 2 6-8pm at LUMA. We will be viewing the award winning documentary about the Following the Box project and talking about the adventure with participating artist graphic novelist Sarbajit Sen; Loyola University Chicago Professor of Fine Arts Sarita Heer; and Curators Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral. The exhibit will be open from 11am to 8pm for viewing. Sarbajit appears courtesy of Air India.
We had a successful panel discussion on September 11 on the Cultural and Historic Context of Following the Box
with Ralph Nicholas, University of Chicago Professor Emeritus of Anthropology; Jock McLane, Northwestern University Professor Emeritus of History; Following the Box artists and curators Jerri Zbiral and Alan Teller; and LUMA Curator Natasha Ritsma.
THE EXHIBIT OPENED ON FRIDAY JULY 6 AT LUMA (the Loyola University Museum of Art) 820 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago. It will be on until October 20, 2018, from 11am to 6pm, closed Sundays and Mondays. Late night Tuesdays until 8pm. See the LUMA website for details regarding public programs: www.luc.edu/luma/
Street and lot parking available. It is also easily reached by public transportation: CTA Red Line to Chicago Avenue, walk three blocks east to Michigan Avenue, one block north to Pearson Street.
Participating artist Chhatrapati Dutta and Curators Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral presented a walking tour on Saturday July 7.
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You did it! Our Kickstarter campaign to support the making of a catalogue of the exhibit exceeded our goal! Thanks! New catalogue available shortly.
IIT-Kharagpur hosted a screening of Following the Box along with a discussion the week of 5 February, 2017.
The American Center and the U.S. Consulate General Kolkata Historical Society co-sponsored a screening of Following the Box, followed by a discussion with Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral on 3 February, 2017.
The 11th International Photography Conference held at the Birla Technology Museum in Kolkata hosted a screening of Following the Box on 27 January, 2017.
Following the Box was featured on NPR San Francisco: http://kalw.org/post/sandip-roy-follow-box?fb_action_ids=10153356552375286#stream/0
Standing room only crowd at the Indian Museum Kolkata on 3 March, 2016 for a film screening AND opening of our historical exhibit focusing on both the story of our research and India's lesser known role in WWII.
FTB was featured in a panel discussion on Saturday, 13 February, 2016 at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai.
The IGNCA exhibit has closed and is quietly waiting for its next, still-unknown venue. Meanwhile, we will keep posting the articles and events that still occur around this on-going adventure.
The next film screening is Friday Jan. 22 at the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts Media Center. 5:30PM. Q & A with Alan and Jerri afterwards.
The FOLLOWING THE BOX EXHIBIT opened Monday, Jan. 11 at the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts in Delhi. This week alone, we've had 10 print or on-line articles written about this cross-cultural art, mystery, history and anthropology exhibit! See the new links under 'Press.'
The last screening was at Alan's Alma mater Queens College, NY on 30 November. Another standing room only crowd!
FTB had a standing room only crowd at the Perspectives Gallery in Evanston on Nov. 15.
In October, FTB was a featured presentation of the Chicago South Asian Film Festival.
FTB had a successful screening at the North American Bengali Conference in Houston in July. See our Facebook page for photos!
The half-hour documentary film 'Following the Box' was shown on June 24 at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Over 100 people came to this featured presentation of the Eye on India Festival. http://eyeonindia.com/city/chicago/
'Following the Box' world premiere was on May 7 at Village East Theater, 2nd Ave & 12th St. NYC, a featured presentation of the New York Indian Film Festival.