Emily Schiffer

Whether merging photography and sculpture, working on decade-long photo documentaries, doing commercial photography, or collaborating on community-based projects, I actively engage the issues and ideas at stake in our visual culture.

I enjoy bringing bold ideas to life, and experimenting with new ways for art to engage people. My greatest strength is the ability to unite worlds that are often separated. I believe art can shift cultural norms and impact social infrastructure. Instinctively drawn toward collaboration, I thrive in all settings where creativity, listening, and respect generate remarkable power.
 
I live in Brooklyn, NY and am available to work internationally.

All images are available as limited edition prints.

Below are some career highlights:

LEADERSHIP
• Co-Founder and Creative Director of We, Women, the largest social impact photography project by womxn in the United States.
• Co-Founder and Creative Director of See Potential, a community engagement project that installed giant photographs onto abandoned buildings on the South Side of Chicago to illustrate community-led development initiatives, and invited viewers to sign petitions of support via text messaging.
• Co-Founder of Danube Revisited: The Inge Morath Truck Project, examining the impact of women on the field of documentary photography.
• Founder and Lead Instructor of Viewpoint Youth Photography Initiative on the Cheyenne River Reservation. Horizontal approach to teaching, where everyone is a student and a teacher.
• Lakou NOU Programs Coordinator (socially engaged art residency) at Haiti Cultural Exchange.

SELECTED AWARDS & GRANTS
• Fulbright Fellowship in Photography
• Audience Engagement Grant from the Open Society Foundation
• Emergency Fund Grant from the Magnum Foundation (now called Magnum Foundation Grant)
• The Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Portraiture
• The Inge Morath Award
• Economic Hardship Reporting Project Fellowship
• Documentary Family Awards (First Place and Zun Lee’s Juror’s Choice Award)
• Rackham Merit Fellowship (fully funded MFA)
• Ford Foundation Funding (for We, Women)
• Open Society Foundation’s Women’s Initiative funding (for We, Women)
• Brooklyn Arts Council Grant (With Anne Fink Bartoc)
• Three successful Kickstarter Campaigns
• Dreyhouse Foundation Grant (for See Potential)
• Panta Rhea Foundation Grant (for See Potential)
• Compton Foundation Grant (for See Potential)
• PDN Photo Annual first place awards
• IPA Lucie Awards first place awards
• Julia Margret Cameron Award first prize

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
•The Upper Austrian Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art Lansgalerie Linz (Linz, Austria)
•Fotografie Forum Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany)
•Espacio Fundacion Telefonica (Madrid, Spain)
•The Cultural Center of the Philippines (Manila, Philippines)
•Photoville (Brooklyn, NY)
•The International Center of Photography (New York, NY)
•Head on Festival (Sydney, Australia)
•Koki Gallery, (Freiburg, Germany)
•F2 Festival(Dortmund, Germany)
•Festival de Fotografia de Paramapocaba (San Paulo, Brazil)
•Providence Center for Photography (Providence, RI)
•Iris Gallery (Cincinnati, OH)•Candela Gallery (Richmond, VA)
•Carr Center (Detroit, MI)•DUMBO Arts Festival (Brooklyn, NY)
•Fovea Gallery (Beacon, NY)
•Angkor Photography Festival (Siam Reap, Cambodia)
•La Gallerie (St-Tropez, France)
•Galerie Duboys (Paris, France)
•The Farnsworth Museum (Rockport, ME)
•Gallery I/D (Miami, FL)
•Recontres 'd Arles (Arles, France)
•Europ'Art International Art Fair (Genevia, Switzerland)
•Centre Du Iris (Paris, France)
•Kyosato Museum of Photographic Arts (Kiyosato, Japan)

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
•The New York Times
•The Washington Post
•TIME
•Aperture
•Smithsonian Magazine
•PDN
•Mother Jones
•AARP Magazine
•Zeke Magazine
•Lit Hub
•Polka Magazine
•Pro Photographer

CLIENTS INCLUDE
• Keds• Khols
• Teach For America
• KIPP Academy
• A popular tech company
• DDB Worldwide

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
•Fotohof (Salzburg, Austria)
•Kiyosoto Museum of Photographic Arts (Kiyosoto, Japan)
•Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art, Photographic Archive (Fort Collins, CO)
•Foto Baryo (Tanauan Batangas, Philippines)
•Indian Health Services Hospital (Eagle Butte, SD)

TEACHING
•School of Visual Art, Adjunct Professor in the Humanities and Photography departments
•International Center of Photography, faculty member

EDUCATION
University of Michigan, Stamps School of Art & Design - MFA in Studio ArtUniversity of Pennsylvania - BA, cum laude, Fine Arts Major, African American Studies Minor