Consider this ICP’s State of The Union Address – a triannual installation (or collection of installations) that explores the ongoing evolution of photography. Curators have assembled an extremely progressive line-up this time around, incorporating audio, video, 3-D, digital, photorealism, lightbox, and more – the majority of it focused upon social activism in the field. There are moments when this exhibition feels a little schizophrenic, what with each passing display offering some new-fangled take on the role of photojournalism. But there are also individual works that are well worth exploring – chief among them Mikhael Subotzky and Patrick Waterhouse’s light-box collage from Ponte City (a 54-story residential tower in Johannesburg, South Africa). Go because ICP is well worth supporting, and so are the 28 artists whose work is on view. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself yearning for the halcyon days of good, old-fashioned photography. Simple may be old-hat, but it also has a way of connecting with people on a very human – if not wholly humane – level.

(A Different Kind of Order runs from now until September 8th @ The International Center of Photography, $14, 1133 Avenue of the Americas & 43rd Street)

Five More For The Offing: 

• The Open Window: Objects, Rooms, and Landscapes by Helen Berggruen @ Fischbach Gallery (Free, through May 25th, 210 11th Avenue, between 24th & 25th Street)
• Recent Paintings by Kenne Gregoire @ Arcadia Gallery (Free, through 5/31, 51 Greene Street)
  
• Cosmologies by Marianne Van Lent @ The Painting Center (Free, through June 15th, 547 West 27th Street, Suite 500)
• Gueule De Bois by Quentin Garel @ Bertrand Delacroix Gallery (Free, through June 1st, 535 West 25th Street)
• Rain Room by Random International @ The Museum of Modern Art ($25, through July 28th, 11 West 53rd Street)