Mitch Epstein has photographed the landscape and culture of America for half a century. A graduate of Cooper Union, he became a pioneer of 1970s fine-art color photography. Epstein has been inducted into the National Academy of Design (2020) and was awarded the Prix Pictet (2011), Berlin Prize (2008), and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2002). His work has been shown and collected by museums worldwide, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Gallery in Washington DC, The Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern in London, Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, the Getty Museum and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in Los Angeles, the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, TX, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Recent exhibitions include “In India,” a presentation of his photographs and films (Salaam Bombay! and India Cabaret) at Les Rencontres d'Arles in the 10th century Abbey of Montmajour, Arles, France (2022) and “Property Rights” at The Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas (2020-21). Epstein's seventeen books, most published by Steidl Verlag, include Recreation (2022, 2005), Property Rights (2021), New York Arbor (2013), American Power (2009), Family Business (2004) --winner of the Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award.
Epstein’s mixed media work includes films, moving image-sound installations, and performance. In 2013, The Walker Art Center commissioned and premiered a theatrical rendition of his American Power series, directed by Annie B. Parsons and Paul Lazar, which combined original live music by Erik Friedlander and live storytelling by Epstein, using video, projected photographs, and archival material. Epstein was director of Dad and Retail (2003), director of photography for India Cabaret (1988), and production designer and co-producer for the feature films Mississippi Masala (1991) and Salaam Bombay! (1988). His latest project, American Nature, premiering at Gallerie d’Italia in October 2024, assembles three self-contained yet integrated works: Old Growth (photographic series), Forest Waves (multi-channel video-sound installation with tonal music by Mike Tamburo and Samer Ghadry performing in the forest), and Darius Kinsey: Clear Cut (looped projection with music by David Lang, performed by Maya Beiser). Epstein lives in New York City and Massachusetts.
Full CV here.