Sheron Rupp

Sheron Rupp "Rupp's color photos of working-class families in New England and the South achieve a tricky balance of affection and clear-eyed documentation. Intensely descriptive, brimming with incident, gesture, and detail, Rupp's pictures might be Evans's sharecroppers as seen by Tiny Barney-classic concerned photography updated with a modern concern for class signifiers and a wry appreciation for the rich jumble of family life." - Vince Aletti, Village Voice, December 1, 1992 For over the past 15 years I have wandered around photographing people and where they live in America. I have always photographed in color to heighten the description of the places I am drawn to. My photo journeys have led me to southeastern Ohio ('83-'85), the Ozarks in northwestern Arkansas ('87), the Northeast Kingdom of rural Vermont and the Appalachian regions of Tennessee and Kentucky ('90). More recently I have travelled to southern Ontario, Canada ('95) and Great Falls, Montana ('96-'98) to observe and photograph more of the quotidian aspects of people's lives. I have always been interested in photographing people living in small, rural towns, including the nondescript neighborhood in America. This work is a deep, committed search to find and photograph those people whose lives to me are a form of human pathos, exile, and poetic vision. My most recent body of work is "In Montana With Beth. . ." These photographs are a step into territory which includes my own family. Beth is my niece who is the mother of two children. On my three trips to Montana to photograph Beth, her family and friends, I've wanted to describe what was around me, that which had to do with the ordinary and the mundane. To me, the quotidian can offer an extraordinary revelation about what is around us in the real world. The human drama of the obvious is what continues to fascinate me. My photographs are chomogenic "C" prints, printed on 20" x 24", 24" x 30" and larger sizes of Fuji paper. The cameras I've used are 6 x 9 and 6 x 7 range-finders. Contact: Sheron Rupp, Photographer Haydenville, Ma. 01039 Phone:413-268-9035 e-mail: sheron@sheronrupp.net Education: B.A. in sociology/psychology, Denison University, Granville, Ohio, 1965. M.F.A. in photography, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1982. Selected Exhibitions: Museum of Modern Art, NYC; O.K. Harris Gallery, NYC; The Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio; The PhotoCenter Gallery, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University; Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Ma.; Photographic Resource Center, Boston; Smith College Museum of Art; The Director's Guild of America, Los Angeles, Ca.; Burden Gallery (Aperture), NYC; San Francisco Camerawork; Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon; Santa Fe Center for Photography; New Mexico State University, University Art Gallery; Weber State University, Ogden, Utah; Portland School of Art, Portland, Maine, and others. Awards: National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artists Fellowship (1994 and 1987) John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Award (1990) Massachusetts Artists Fellow in Photography (1984 and 1986) Collections: Museum of Modern Art, NYC; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Ma.; Mead Art Museum, Amherst College; Smith College Museum of Art; Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, Ma.; Carpenter Center for Visual Arts, Harvard University; Springfield Technical Community College Foundation, Inc., Springfield, Ma. Publications: DoubleTake Magazine (forthcoming Winter '98) Esquire Magazine; American Illustrated Magazine; Aperture Magazine, "OurTown,"; Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort by Peter Galassi; Helicon Nine: The Journal of Women's Arts & Letters, Kansas City, Missouri, and others. Guest Artist/Lecturer Teaching Positions: Amherst College; Hampshire College, Amherst , Ma.; Springfield College, Ma.; Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, Ma.; University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Northfield-Mount Hermon School, Northfield, Ma.; The Museum School, Boston; New York University, Photo Department; Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y.; Hartford School of Art, Connecticut; Massachusetts College of Art, Boston; Boston College, Newton, Ma., and others. Detailed resume and other information upon request. Contact artist at 413-586-0603 (Phone & Fax)