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

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

2024

Dandies, Debutantes and Dancers (7/29) Celebration and panel discussion of Abramson’s photography / Soho House / Chicago

Pervs, Peppers and The Chaparral: Michael Abramson’s Chicago South Side Photographs (2/2-3/30) Houston Museum of African American Culture / Houston / TX / Solo Exhibit

Gotta Go, Gotta Flow (3/22-7/3) Snap! Gallery / Orlando, FL / Group Exhibit

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

Dandies, Debutantes and Dancers (7/29) Soho House / Chicago / IL / Single-Night Event, Solo Exhibit and Panel Discussion with Marcus Riley and Patricia Smith.

2023

A Space To Appear, A Space To Tarry (6/8/23-7/8/23) Automat Collective / Philadelphia, PA [Solo Exhibit]

Hot in August (8/4-8/25) Fotogalerie Friedrichshain / Berlin, Germany / [Group 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 [Multiple Artists Featured]

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) Photo Show, Exhibit Sponsor: Unbound7! Gallery / New York, NY

2018

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

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

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

Michael Abramson:Tales from the South Side. 70's 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 Show]

2015

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

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 Show]

2011

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

2008

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

Photographers of Chicago / Chicago Cultural Center / Chicago, IL [Group Show]

2004

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

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

1989

Seein’ the Blues / Chicago Film Makers / Chicago, IL [Group Show]

1987

Stepping Out / Art Institute of Chicago / Chicago, IL [Group Show]

1983

Photography of Michael Abramson / Museum of Contemporary Photography / Chicago, Illinois [Solo Exhibit]

Five-Years at Creative Photography / Creative Photography Gallery / Massachusetts Institute of Technology / Cambridge, Ma. [Group Show]

1981

Chicago Photography / California Museum of Photography /Riverside, CA [Group Show]

1980

Gallery Artists / Zolla Lieberman Gallery / Chicago, IL [Group Show]

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

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 CollectionExhibit (Michael Abramson) / Milwaukee Art Museum / Milwaukee, WI [Group Show]

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.