Twenty-five years ago, photographer Bobbe Wolf put together “Fifty Couples Over Fifty,” a series of pictures of couples she knew. The exhibit’s premiere at the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago doubled as a prenuptial celebration for Wolf, who got married a month later. The artist and her husband recently celebrated their 25th anniversary and now her series is inspiring the residents and guests of the Three Crowns Park senior center in Evanston, where it is on display through Feb. 27.
“Certain people here latch on to some of the couples and want to know more about them,” Evanston resident Wolf said. “The people here have been so happy with the exhibit that they don’t want to see it taken down.”
Some of the original black and white images are accompanied by recent color photos of the couples, or in one case just the surviving spouse, in what Wolf calls her “Then and Now” series.
“These are all people I know from various parts of my life and they each have a different story,” Wolf said. “Of course the sad part is that 25 years later we seem to have lost about 50 percent.”
None of the couples broke up since the photos were taken, but relationships evolved. Two photos hanging side by side depict couples where one member of each has since died. Wolf played matchmaker with the survivors, who have now been in a relationship for 16 years. Another couple who had been together for two years wound up using the picture Wolf took of them on their wedding invitations and were married six months after Wolf.
Many of the couples are from Chicago or Evanston and they represent a wide variety of careers including architect, cardiologist, homemaker and art dealer. Wolf said she loves looking at the poses people struck like her college roommate and her husband who are fairly serious people but are cracking up in their portrait. Many of the couples are hugging.
“I just told people to do what they wanted to do,” she said. “This was a good time in people’s lives. The fact that people were at ease with me demonstrates their affection. They also talked to me and I was flattered by that.”
Each picture features a quote about the couple’s relationship taken from 20- to 30-minute interviews Wolf and her now husband conducted with each pair of subjects such as “Just because he argues better, doesn’t make him right” and “One of the things about being over 50 is that we used to talk about our children — now we talk about our parents.”
“When my husband and I edited their tapes together, we realized it was our prenuptial analysis,” Wolf said. “We learned about working together on a relationship and individually. We learned patience. We learned you can take turns and we learned to keep your sense of humor going.”
Both Wolf and her current husband had been married before and their concerns about coming together in their 50s are writ on the picture of them that hangs at the exhibit’s opening.
“It seems to be more complicated for a mature couple to establish a relationship,” their quote says. “Each comes with a fixed personality and outlook on life and believes he or or she is moving along a clear individual path.”
‘Fifty Couples Over Fifty’ photo exhibit
When: Through Feb. 27
Where: Three Crowns Park, 2323 McDaniel Ave.
Admission: Free
Information: 847-328-8700; threecrownspark.com