New Book Documents the Lost Interiors of Ebony and Jet Headquarters
Photographer Barbara Karant captures the iconic 1970s Chicago architecture of Johnson Publishing Company.
1Historic Black Media Headquarters Documented
Photographer Barbara Karant has released a monograph titled 820 Ebony/Jet, documenting the vacant Chicago headquarters of Johnson Publishing Company. Completed in 1972, the building at 820 South Michigan Avenue served as the physical home for iconic publications Ebony and Jet, defining Black American media culture for decades.
2Architectural Defiance in Downtown Chicago
Publisher John H. Johnson faced systemic financial and real estate hurdles when planning the headquarters. He commissioned John Moutoussamy, the first Black architect to design a downtown Chicago high-rise. Rejecting modern glass-and-steel conventions, Moutoussamy built an 11-story structure clad in restrained travertine marble to project institutional permanence.
3Vibrant Interior Design Schemes Across Floors
Designers Arthur Elrod and William Raiser gave each of the 11 floors a distinct visual identity matching corporate ambitions with expressive aesthetics. The cafeteria featured orange, purple, and gold chevrons, while co-founder Eunice Johnson’s office utilized cream-and-honey palettes alongside fine art, accompanied by bold carpets and geometric wallpapers.
4Decades of Unaltered Architectural Legacy
The interior design remained largely unchanged from 1972 until Johnson Publishing Company vacated the premises in 2012. Karant began capturing the abandoned building in 2013 and continued through 2018. Even with furnishings removed, the building preserved its original mirrored dressing rooms, custom surfaces, and distinct psychedelic laminate cabinetry.
5Documenting Vacancy, Form, and Texture
The absence of staff and print production shifted photographic focus directly onto spatial composition, materiality, and pattern. Karant utilized existing mirrors to multiply visual motifs across empty rooms. Large picture windows on executive floors framed Grant Park and Lake Michigan, providing external context to the isolated internal color studies.
6Artistic Legacy and Archival Contributions
Beyond interior photographs, the monograph highlights Richard Hunt’s site-specific 1972 lobby sculpture, Expansive Construction, alongside Ebony’s in-house photo studio. The book explores the building's lasting influence on prominent contemporary artists, including Theaster Gates, Hank Willis Thomas, Kwame Brathwaite, Lorna Simpson, Martine Syms, and David Hartt.
7Curatorial Structure and Archival Essays
Published by MW Editions at $65, the 240-page monograph compiles 142 color photographs and eight black-and-white images. The volume opens with a foreword by artist Deborah Willis and contains scholarly essays by Aaron Bryant, Cheryl Finley, Carla Williams, Jon Ott, Brenna Wynn Greer, and E. James West.
8Preserving Corporate and Cultural Space
The publication provides a critical record of twentieth-century commercial interior architecture designed explicitly for Black corporate identity. By preserving spaces that no longer exist in their operational form, the monograph documents how physical environments reinforced the media institutions that shaped modern representations of Black American culture and enterprise.