Photography (BFA) People & Stories
UArts students in the Photography program have co-curated an exhibition of high school student work titled A Sense of Place, producing the exhibition from the ground up as part of their studies toward an Art History minor.
Co-curators Alexander Medlin II ’25 (Interdisciplinary Art), Isabella Kahn ’25 (Photography), and Miosotis Negrón ’24 (Photography) invited high schoolers to submit work in response to the theme of “home.” Thirty-six artists were selected from four high schools: the Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania; Westtown School, West Chester, Pennsylvania; River Dell High School, Oradell, New Jersey; and Etobicoke School of the Arts, Ontario.
Christa DiMarco, associate professor, program director of Art History, and coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Art BFA, oversaw the project and guided the curators. The co-curators worked with DiMarco to devise a short list of high schools with which UArts has previously been in touch and contacted their arts faculty with instrumental help from School of Art Dean Sheryl Oring and Photography Program Director Jennifer Greenburg.
The co-curators wrote and designed a compelling call for entry and were ultimately thrilled by the responses. They reviewed all the submissions and accepted more that 40 images from 36 applicants. The students were invited to submit up to three entries each.
Photographer German Vazquez BFA ’20 (Photography) served as guest juror and awarded three emerging artists with first place (Emma Lindeman, Shipley School), second place (Eric Li, Westtown School), and third place (Caleb Pryor, Shipley School) honors. The high school students submitted photographic works spanning a range of approaches, from evocative editorial imagery to documentary street photography.
“We wanted to underscore the importance of photography and exhibition opportunities in the lives of young artists,” DiMarco said. “Our intention was to recognize their work, provide a public forum, and show them how the arts can serve as a beacon. We hope this experience shapes their young-adult lives and helps them see the arts as a positive, viable pathway.”
Though DiMarco oversaw the project, she emphasized that the theme and nearly every decision related to the exhibition—writing the call for entries, managing the jurying process, drafting email communication, professionally printing the photographs, designing the exhibition catalog, posting social-media outreach, and installing and de-installing the show—was student-driven. Designing an exhibition not only strengthened the students’ hands-on skills, but also taught them how to collaborate with emerging artists and educators through a shared passion for visual art.
“I was so proud to watch the co-curators step into a demanding professional project and execute their vision,” DiMarco said. “Art History minors are interested in pursuing curatorial practices and working in museums or galleries, so I am always looking to broaden their horizons and offer them professional career paths.”
The student curators did more than make an impact on the exhibiting high school students, who were visibly excited at the opening. Through the work that they did for A Sense of Place, they also built a model for future high school exhibitions and UArts student-curated exhibitions in campus galleries. Future student-curated exhibitions will be able to reach a wider group of emerging artists thanks to the work, dedication, and inventive ideas of the initial three student curators.
The first-place recipient, Emma Lindeman, has won a full-tuition scholarship to UArts’ Summer Institute to study in the Art, Media, and Design program, and is excited to join UArts this summer and take Photography classes.
On hearing about A Sense of Place, Michelle Moody (née Kless) BFA ’84 (Photography) shared that a similar experience forged her path. “During my junior year of high school, one of my black-and-white portraits was chosen for a project similar to [A Sense of Place], and it was that opportunity that gave me the confidence to commit to becoming an artist.”
A Sense of Place: High School Photography Exhibition
Exhibition Dates: April 13–May 2, 2024
Photography Gallery at University of the Arts
Terra Hall, 15th floor
211 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Building hours
Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
University of the Arts is featured three times in Peerspace’s list of the top 12 fashion photographers in Philadelphia. Trevor Dixon BFA ’89 (Photography), Marcus Branch BFA ’14 (Photography) and Senior Lecturer Shawn Theodore are included in the list, which also provides the photographers’ Instagram handles so users can check out the breadth and beauty of their work over time.
Theodore’s images are on exhibit at UArts in the Photography Program Gallery, Terra Hall, 15th floor, through Sept. 29. A description of his work notes that it “makes connections that merge daily observations into the power of myth; drawing on the power of the internal metaphysical dichotomies of the African American psyche as a retelling of missing narratives, a practice he calls ‘Afromythology.’”
Meet Photography alumni Gianna Vadino '13 , Alexa Quinn '13 and Manuel Dominguez '04, who all work at the bustling Urban Outfitters headquarters in Philadelphia, PA!
One of the 20th century’s most renowned and emulated photographers, Irving Penn, attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Arts (now University of the Arts) from 1934 to 1938.
After leaving the Museum School and traveling the world, Penn began working at Vogue in 1943. Over the next 60 years, Penn’s striking style earned him the reputation of one of the most influential fashion photographers of all time. Penn shot an astounding 165 covers for the magazine, and his dramatic black-and-white style is now a hallmark of midcentury commercial photography.
Though Penn is often viewed as a fashion photographer, he was also a gifted portraitist and printmaker. In 1984, Penn was honored with a retrospective of his work that began at MoMA and then toured the world. A centennial exhibition also traveled the globe in 2017, with its first stop being the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Penn lived to the age of 92 and died in 2009, having been a prolific photographer and artist for most of his life.
Alumni Spotlights
Alumni Accomplishments
The Photography program has a long history of successful alumni, including Irving Penn ’38, George Krause BFA ’58, David Lebe BFA ’70, Susan Welchman BFA ’70, Zeke Berman BFA ’73, Deborah Willis BFA ’75, Jayne Wexler BFA ’83, Catherine Edelman BFA ’85 and Matt Suib BFA ’95.
Our alumni go on to careers in myriad photography areas and related fields and are recipients of the MacArthur Foundation Award and the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Many have exhibited and been published nationally and internationally, have become editors, art directors, publishers, gallerists and makers. Some of our alumni have gone on to complete advanced degrees like MFAs, while others have established successful businesses.
Legacy Alumni
BFA '85
BFA '70
Featured Alumni
BFA '21
BFA '20
BFA '20
BFA '16
BFA '14
BFA '14
Faculty Spotlights
In the Photography major, you'll study with top professionals with extensive experience in a wide range of concentrations, including fine art, editorial, fashion, commercial, documentary and studio practice.
MFA '06 (Book Arts & Printmaking)
Professor Emeritus