1974-77     Master of Science / Photography / Institute of Design / Illinois Institute of Technology / Chicago, IL

1966-70     Bachelor of Science/Economics / Wharton School of Business / University of Pennsylvania / Philadelphia, PA

1977-2011   Michael L. Abramson Photography, Inc. / Chicago, Illinois

1981-1983   Photography Instructor / Institute of Design / Illinois Institute of Technology / Chicago, Illinois

1977-1982   Photography Instructor / Columbia College / Chicago, Illinois

1975-1977    Nightclubs on Chicago’s South Side

1978            Ballrooms and Dance Halls, Chicago

1979            Festival Strip Club, Camera Night, Chicago

1983-2010  Freelance

1996              Indonesia

1996-2008   Global Capturing of Michael Jordan Image (Original photograph taken for Time Magazine, 1996)

2003            Cuba

2009     

Grammy Nominee (Best Packaging) / Light on the South Side (Photographs by Michael Abramson) / Numero Group Recording Co. Chicago, IL.

1979     

National Endowment for the Arts (Photography Fellowship of $3,000) / Washington, D.C.

2020 — Artsy

2018 — PhotoCulture

2025

Ragusa Foto Festival 13 Beyond Appearance (8/28-9/28) Ragusa Ibla—one of the eight towns in the Val di Noto that were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for their unique Baroque architecture—transforms into an art gallery / Sicily, Italy / Group Exhibit

Black & White International Photography Exhibition (6/13-6/25) Blank Wall Gallery / Athens, Greece / Group Exhibit

Light It Up (2/15) Soho Paris / Paris, France / Solo Exhibit and Panel Discussion ft. Marcus Riley, Midge Wilson, PhD and Tom Cinoman

DISCO, I’m Coming Out (2/14-8/17) Cité de la Musique, Philharmonie de Paris / Paris, France / Group Exhibit

XOXO (1/14-2/22) Candela Gallery / Richmond, VA / Group Exhibit

2024

Dandies, Debutantes and Dancers (7/29) Soho House Chicago / Chicago, IL / Solo Exhibit and Panel Discussion ft. Marcus Riley, Midge Wilson, PhD and Patricia Smith

Night Of The Year (7/6-9/27) Les Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles / Arles, Provence, France / Group Exhibit

Pervs, Peppers and The Chaparral: Michael Abramson’s Chicago South Gotta Go, Gotta Flow (3/22-7/3) Snap! Gallery / Orlando, FL / Group Exhibit

Side Photographs (2/2-3/30) Houston Museum of African American Culture / Houston, TX / Solo Exhibit

2023

Hot in August (8/4-8/25) Fotogalerie Friedrichshain / Berlin, Germany / Group Exhibit

A Space To Appear, A Space To Tarry (6/8-7/8) Automat Collective / Philadelphia, PA / Solo Exhibit

2022

Love in the Club (3/11-8/31) Stax Museum of American Soul Music / Memphis, TN / Solo Exhibit

2021

South Side (7/22) The Crane Kalman Gallery / Brighton, England / Group Exhibit

2020

A Moment in Time: 70s Chicago Club Scene (2/1-5/31) The Hub’s Fine Arts Photography Gallery / New Smyrna Beach, FL / Solo Exhibit

2019

Dandies, Debutantes and Dancers: Southside Chicago Nightclubs in the 1970s (1/4-2/28) Rangefinder Gallery / Chicago, IL / Solo Exhibit

AIPAD (4/4-4/7) Unbound7! Gallery / New York, NY / Exhibit Sponsor

2018

Light on the South Side (8/2-9/2) Blue Sky Gallery / Portland, OR / Group Exhibit

Unbound7! Gallery (7/6-8/4) Candela Gallery / Richmond, VA / Group Exhibit

Photo London (5/5-5/20) MMX Gallery / London, England / Exhibit Sponsor

Michael Abramson: Tales from the South Side. 70s Chicago Clubs (3/21-5/5) MMX Gallery / London, England / Solo Exhibit

Light on the South Side (1/12-2/ 24) Benhadj & Djilali Galerie / Berlin, Germany / Solo Exhibit

2017

Rock, Funk, & Punk (6/10-8/27) Fotografie Forum / Frankfurt, Germany / Group Exhibit

2015

A Lasting Vision: Photographs of the Institute of Design 1970-2001 (7/31-8/14) / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

2014

Pulse of the Night: Photographs of Michael Abramson (9/2-12/19) Museum of Contemporary Photography / Chicago, IL / Solo Exhibit

Focal Points: American Photography Since 1950 (5/18-9/1) Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts / Madison, WI / Group Exhibit

2011

Salon Collections Exhibit (5/5-8/15) Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

2008

Made in Chicago (10/18/08-1/4/09)  From the LaSalle Bank of America  Collection / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

Photographers of Chicago / Chicago Cultural Center / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

2004

Superhits of the 70s: Photographs from the Collection (10/8/04-1/2/05)  Milwaukee Art Museum / Milwaukee, WI / Group Exhibit

Photographs of Cuba: Michael Abramson (Spring) / Catholic Theological Union / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

1989

Seein’ the Blues / Chicago Film Makers / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

1987

Stepping Out / Art Institute of Chicago / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

1983

Photography of Michael Abramson / Museum of Contemporary Photography / Chicago, IL / Solo Exhibit

Five-Years at Creative Photography / Creative Photography Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Cambridge, MA / Group Exhibit

1981

Chicago Photography / California Museum of Photography / Riverside, CA / Group Exhibit

1980

Gallery Artists / Zolla Lieberman Gallery / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

The New Vision: 40 Years of Photography at the Institute of Design / Chicago Cultural Center / Chicago, IL / Group Exhibit

1979

Michael Abramson / Zolla Lieberman Gallery / Chicago, IL / Solo Exhibit

Photography of Michael Abramson / Milwaukee Art Museum / Milwaukee, WI / Solo Exhibit

Michael Abramson Photography / Cincinnati Academy of Art / Cincinnati, OH / Solo Exhibit

1978

Permanent Collection Exhibit / Michael Abramson / Milwaukee Art Museum / Milwaukee, WI / Group Exhibit

Art Institute of Chicago / Chicago, Illinois

Creative Photography Gallery / Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Cambridge, Massachusetts

California Museum of Photography / Riverside, California

Illinois Institute of Technology

Madison Art Center / Madison, Wisconsin

Museum of Contemporary Photography / Columbia College / Chicago, Illinois

Milwaukee Art Museum / Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Chicago Historical Society / Chicago, Illinois

Smithsonian Institution / Washington, DC

2018

Men Photographing Women in the 70s / Hoxton Mini Press / London, UK [Solo Artist]

Chicago: Classic Photographs  (Perv’s House - Chicago, 1976) / City Files Press / Chicago, IL, p 132

2016

The Oxford American, Southern Music Issue (Pervs House - Chicago, 1976)  Vol.18, / Little Rock, AR, p. 9

2015

Gotta Go, Gotta Flow / City Files Press / Chicago, IL (Featuring the poetry of Patricia Smith} [Solo Artist]

A Lasting Vision: Photographs from the Institute of Design, 1970-2001 (Pepper’s Hideout – Chicago, 1976) Illinois Institute of Technology Press / IL, p. 26

2009

Light On the South Side / The Numero Group Recording Co. / Chicago, Illinois [Solo Print Artist]

2004

Miniature Rooms: The Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago (2nd Ed.) 1984 / Hudson Hill Press / Manchester, VT / Photographs by Kathleen Culbert-Aguilar and Michael Abramson 

1983

Miniature Rooms: The Thorne Rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago (1st Edition) / Abbeville Press / New York, NY Photographs by Kathleen Culbert-Aguilar and Michael Abramson 

1982

The New Vision, Forty Years of Photographs at the Institute of Design / Aperture; First Edition (April 1982) / Millerton, NY

2025

The Night Disco Died / One Story Up Productions / South Side photographs featured / New York, NY

2024

The Numero Group / Record Album Cover (Perv’s Dance Hall) / Chicago, IL

2023

The History of Disco in Chicago (South side photographs featured in American Experience) / PBS / South Portland, MA

2021

Mama Gloria (www.mamagloriafilm.com) / South side photos featured / Chicago, IL

2021

The Numero Group / Eccentric Disco record cover (South Side photograph) / Chicago, IL

2019

Soul 4 Real Records / Wilson Williams 45 record cover (South Side photograph) /London, UK

2017        

The Chi (South side photographs featured in bar scenes) / Showtime Original Series / Chicago, IL

2012        

The History of Soul Music: Five Key Cities / VH1 Special Programming / Los Angeles, CA

1983-2010

Freelance Photography Publication Outlets

Periodicals

Time, Newsweek, People, Fortune, Forbes, Business Week, Travel and Leisure, Sports Illustrated, Entertainment Weekly, Discover, Stern, Der Spiegel, Panorama, Le Point, Harpers, Barrons, Bloomberg Markets, Smithsonian Air & Space, Wall Street Journal, Reader’s Digest, Money, Inc. Magazine, New York Times Magazine, Metropolitan Home, Smart Money, US News and World Report, Chicago Tribune Magazine, Chief Executive, Business 2.0, Ms Magazine, Bloomberg

Corporations/Institutions

Bayer, Miles Laboratories, Whirlpool, Northern Trust Bank, AM International, Northwestern University, Mitsubishi, Sears, Square D, Herman Miller, Zebra Technology, Warner Lambert.