B. Proud

A Polaroid self-portrait of B Proud holding a leaf in front of one side of her face
Faculty

Photography (BFA)

B. Proud is an adjunct professor in the Photography program at UArts and a fine art and commercial photographer.  

 

B. Proud. It’s not a slogan. It’s the name that’s on her birth certificate, and Barbara Proud says that it’s a name she has to live up to.

Biography

B. Proud is an adjunct professor in the Photography program at UArts and is also on the faculty of the International Center of Photography, New York City. Proud’s courses include Basic Studio Photography, Advanced Studio Photography, Fashion and Editorial Portraiture, and Professional Practices in Photography.

Experience

As both a commercial and fine art photographer, B. Proud has exhibited her work in solo and group shows around the globe. A career highlight was photographing President Barack Obama and Lady Gaga on the same day.

B. Proud’s current work is a series of socially conscious documentary projects focused on the LGBTQIA+ and transgender communities. First Comes Love is a traveling exhibition of photographs, stories and video of couples in long-term relationships. The project’s hardbound book received two publishing gold medals. Her short film, A Circle of Diamonds, about LGBTQ icon Edie Windsor’s diamond engagement pin, has been included in 16 film festivals worldwide.

The sequel project, Transcending Love, is a current work in progress and is focused on transgender and gender-nonconforming couples across the country, in an attempt to open hearts and minds to a community deserving of understanding, respect and basic human rights.

Work

Visit B. Proud's website.  

Explore Proud’s First Comes Love project. 

Experience Proud’s Transcending Love project. 

A closeup of B. Proud holding her book First Comes Love which has a black and white photo on it and the title running vertically up the right side
A trans couple with their eyes closed and holding each other with one person pregnant
B. Proud, “Owen and Blue”

 

Awards & Accolades

Proud is the recipient of numerous honors and grants.

  • She has earned grants from the B.W. Bastian Foundation, the Puffin Foundation, University of the Arts and the Delaware State Arts Council. 

  • Her work is included in Weeks Gallery, Jamestown, New York; Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington; Eastman Kodak, Rochester, New York; Haverford College, Pennsylvania; the Center for Photography at Woodstock, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art;  and private collections. 

  • In 2012, Proud received the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching at University of the Arts.