COLUMBUS, OH.- Embracing technology and the power of social media, the Columbus Museum of Art presents the first museum exhibition generated by Instagram. CMA used its critically acclaimed exhibition The Radical Camera: New York’s Photo League, 1936 – 1951 as the inspiration for a social media campaign encouraging people to “become a modern-day Photo Leaguer by participating in Columbus Museum of Art Photo Hunts.” The result is an exhibition of more than 30 works, each taken using the popular Instagram app, on view in CMA’s Community Gallery.

“The Columbus Museum of Art is leading the national conversation in creating a visionary, innovative, visitor-centered model for a participatory, twenty-first century museum,” said Executive Director Nannette V. Maciejunes. “CMA Photo Hunts extend the idea creating a great, visitor-centered experience into the digital world.”

The first photo assignment was posted in early June with new prompts each week through early September. The “hunts” were inspired by the Photo League, a group of young photographers who took to the streets between the 1930s and 1950s with their cameras just as photography was becoming recognized as an art, and magazines such as Life and Look were forming. Artists in the Photo League were known for capturing sharply revealing, compelling moments from everyday life. Photo Hunts were their way of giving themselves creative challenges, and having fun.

During Photo Hunts, Photo Leaguers were sent out to capture a word or phrase, then their work was developed, and they’d gather to critique and celebrate. The Museum asked people to capture ideas like contrast, joy, and submit their photos to CMA via Instagram. CMA’s William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography Catherine Evans, combed through the more than 800 photo submissions to select the works that best illustrated the assignment.