Contact Information:

www.mjbphotography.com

Caaap Gallery

Michael J. Bracey is an independent photographer currently living in Chicago, Illinois. His work has been published in various magazines, newspapers, annual reports, and purchased by many private collectors worldwide.

He holds an Associates of Arts degree from Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson, Kansas (1979), a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from Webster University, St. Louis, MO (1981), and a Master of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from Columbia College Chicago (1997).

He has received rave recognition for his lectures, photography exhibitions, and acquired various awards; the most recently being a grant from the Community Arts Assistance Program in Chicago (2004) and a fellowship from the Illinois Arts Council (2003) for his "Africans Within the Americas" project (exhibition & forth coming book same title, see website); and the 1987 Pulitzer winner John H. White Award for Portfolio of the Year (2001).

To view other works of Bracey please visit website: www.mjbphotography.com and the coffee table book titled, "The Journey: The Next 100 years"(2006 release). It is published by the Chicago Alliance of African-American Photographers in conjunction with Roosevelt University Press, the Chicago Historical Society, and Chicago Tribune newspaper.

Bracey is a member of the Chicago Alliance of African-American Photographers (CAAAP) where he was president from March 2002 to April 2004; an associate member with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ); and a member with the City of Chicago's African Advisory Council where their focus is bridging the differences between the African/African-American/ and West Indian cultures within the city.

Bracey credits the following photographers for their unofficial mentoring: the master pioneer Henri Cartier-Bresson for choosing the trivial "moment of human existence" and making it decisively significant for the entire world to enjoy; the trailblazing maestro Gordon Parks for his courage and perseverance for choosing the camera to combat racism and poverty; and the humanitarian Sabastio Salgaldo for showing us the strength and dignity of the poor and deprived as they search for equality and the basic human needs of health, food and shelter.