The publication of David Hartt: Stray Light records the Johnson Publishing Headquarters building located at 800 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago, Illinois. The building was designed by John Moutoussany, an African American architect and partner in the firm Dubin Dubin Black. It was purpose-built in 1971 as the headquarters for Johnson Publishing Company. It remains an iconic presence on South Michigan Avenue with its illuminated Ebony–Jet marquee atop the building. The interior of the building was designed by Arthur Elrod and is a clear, exuberant expression of African American taste as well as an articulation of founder John Johnson's vision for what an African American–owned business could be. Johnson's vision and the company's achievements are inexorably tied to the African American experience of the mid-to-late twentieth-century.

David Hartt (born 1967, Montreal), project artist, currently lives and works in Chicago. He graduated with an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1994. He has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2011–12); Golden Age, Chicago (2011); Howard House, Seattle (2009); Deven Golden Fine Art (1998, 1997); Andrew Kreps, New York (1996); L'Observatoire-Galerie, Brussels (1995); and Ten in One, Chicago (1995).

Darby English, main essayist, is a professor of art history at the University of Chicago. He earned his PhD from the University of Rochester (in visual and cultural Studies) and his specialties include modern and contemporary American art, cultural studies, and art theory and criticism, which mirror his current interests in the histories of modernism, contemporary art, and cultural studies.

Michael Darling, essayist, is the James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Prior to coming to Chicago, he was the Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Seattle Art Museum. Darling has contributed essays on art, architecture, and design to publications including Frieze, Art Issues, Flash Art, and LA Weekly. He received his BA in art history from Stanford University, and his MA and PhD in art and architectural history from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The Columbia College Chicago Press publishes books in the arts and humanities that foster intellectual dialogue. The press publishes works that contribute to the critical analysis of the arts, cultural studies, and humanities; illustrated works and artists' monographs in all media, including visual studies of important social and cultural phenomena; works that contribute to urban studies; and books on arts education and on policies related to the arts in general. In addition, the press publishes books that champion Chicago and its regional culture as both the source and subject for rich engagement and analysis.

The Museum of Contemporary Photography (MoCP) is a stimulating and innovative forum for the collection, creation, and examination of contemporary imagemaking in its camera tradition and in its expanded vocabulary of digital processes. Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the museum considers all elements of our mission to promote a greater understanding and appreciation of the artistic, cultural, and political implication of the image in our world today, within the context of public service and responsibility to the community and museum profession.