How Is the World? Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Photography

How Is the World? highlights a selection of photographs acquired by the Corcoran Gallery of Art over the past few years. The exhibition features works as varied as Paul Graham’s dramatic redefinition of street photography, Kate O’Donovan Cook’s unconventional self-portraiture, Edward Burtynsky’s striking depiction of the oil industry’s impact on the land, and Hank Willis Thomas’s exploration of the connections between spectacle and African American identity. Graham has said that he uses his camera to answer the question “How is the world?” Seen together, the works on view invite us to consider the wide-ranging issues addressed by photographers working today.