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I began photographing landscapes as an undergraduate at Princeton University. Later, at the School of Visual Arts MFA program in   
Photography and Related Media, I began to view landscape photography as a kind of geography, a visual rendering of the complicated nexus of geology, history, and ideology. Subsequent projects, the whole great world, Atlantis, and Falling at His Feet, investigated imposed notions of paradise, through simultaneous moments of failure and fleeting edenic success. My current work, Right Coast, explores the surfing community in New York City. In addition to landscapes that reveal the rigor and drama of East Coast winter surfing, I include portraits and still lives that point to the intimacy and intensity of the life carved out on New York City’s stretch of Atlantic Ocean.

I live in Rockaway Beach, Queens, NY, with my husband, Robert Sherwood, 2 cats, and an embarassing number of surfboards.

contact:
susannah@susannahray.com  

347.528.6101


One and Two Person Exhibitions

2004            Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY, "We Are Talking Now of Summer Evenings..."

2002            Koussevitzky Gallery, Pittsfield, MA, "the whole great world"

                   The Front Room, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY, "The Banner Project"

1999            SUNY Purchase Photography Department Gallery, Purchase, NY , "America99"

1996            Women's Studies Gallery, Princeton University,  Princeton, NJ, "Passages"

1994             Lucas Gallery, Princeton University, "Domain"


Group Exhibitions

2010            Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NY, NY, "Summer Place"

                   Long Beach Island Foundation for Arts and Sciences, "Print Center 84th International Competition: Photography!"fgv

                   The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA, "84th International Competition: Photography!"

2009            Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY, "Sweet Spot"

                   The Princeton University Museum of the Arts, "Emmet Gowin: A Collective Portrait"

                   FuelTV at Bathhouse Studios, NY, NY "Focus on Art"

2007            Rockland County Center for the Arts, "Upon Further Review," Nyack, NY

                   Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY, "Change at Babylon"

                   The Arsenal Gallery, "The Players" NYC Parks Department Public Art Program,
                   Central Park, NY, NY, May 2007

                   Brooklyn Academy of Music, "BAMart Auctions," Brooklyn, NY

2006            The Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, "The Queens International"

                   Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY, "Safe"  

                   Ashley Tyler Gallery, New York, NY, "Offshore/On Board"

2005            Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY, "Citations"

                   The Bronx Museum of the Arts,  Bronx, NY, "Threads and Vines"

2004            The Front Room, "WMD"            

                   The International Center for Photography, New York, NY, "Slidefest"

2003            Triple Candie, New York, NY,  "The Benefit for Triple Candie"

2001            The Front Room, "Amanda Alic, Sean Hemmerle, Stuart Hawkins, Susannah Ray"

                   The Front Room, "79.9MW"

2000            Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred University, Alfred, NY, "Precedence: Emmet Gowin and His Students"

1998            Artist's Space, NY, NY, "Night of 1,000 Small Drawings"

                   CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, NY, Members show

1997            White Columns, NY, NY, "Blue Lagoon"

1994            Blair Academy Gallery, Blairstown, NJ, Faculty exhibition

1992            Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano, Lima, Peru, "Princeton Photography"  


Curation

2004             The Front Room, "WMD"


Collections

The Princeton University Museum of the Arts

The Bronx Museum of the Arts

The Capital Group

The State Department of California


Awards and Residencies

2008             Finalist, The Center for Documentary Studies/Honickman Foundation First Book Prize

2004             Community Artist's Program, The Bronx Museum of the Arts

1997             The Paula Rhodes Memorial Award 


Bibliography

2010             "Portraits: Artists in Residence," Bronx Museum Artist in the Marketplace Catalogue, Spring/Fall 2010         

2009             Joel Smith, "Emmet Gowing: A Collective Portrait, Exhbition Catalogue, Princeton University Art Museum

                    "Portraits: Artists in Residence," Bronx Museum Artist in the Marketplace Catalogue 2008-2009, Spring 2009

                    Jenni Avins, "Own This City," Time Out New York, Issue 702 : Mar 12–18, 2009

                    Darya Zhuk, "Cold Wave," Snob Magazine, Moscow, Russia, March 2009

                    Alex Wilson, "Review: Right Coast," Surfer Magazine, February 2009

                    Sam Haddad, "Editor's Choice: Right Coast" Cooler Magazine, London, UK, February 2009

2007            Martha Schwendener, "Last Chance: The Players," The New York Times, June 22, 2007

                   Martha Schwendener, "Art in Review: The Players," The New York Times, June 15, 2007

2006            "Bronx Portraits," Grand Concourse Magazine, The Bronx Museum of Art, Spring/Summer 2006

                   Stefan Marti, "Surfing the A Train," Transworld Surf Magazine, July 2006

2005            Rob Cummings, "“On the Right Coast: Surfing Rockaway,” in coastalsurvey.com,
                   August/September 2005

                   "Bronx Portraits," Grand Concourse Magazine, The Bronx Museum, Winter 2005

2004            "Bronx Portraits," Grand Concourse Magazine, The Bronx Museum, Fall 2004

                   "One Gardener's Almanac," House and Garden Magazine, August 2004

1997            Shelley Rice, Madeline Djerejian, Susannah Ray, and Ilana Rein, "On a History of Women
                   Photographers," The Photo Review, Spring  1997

1996            Sharon Katz, "Photographic Expression: Susannah's Domain" in The Creative Arts at Princeton:           
                   Vignettes by Students, ed. John McPhee  



Flat Files/Slide Files/Artist's Registries

2004-pres.    re-title.com, London, UK

2003-pres.    White Columns

2000-2002    LFL Gallery, NY, NY


Teaching

2007-pres.    Seminar Leader, Artist in the Marketplace Program, The Bronx Museum of the Arts

2006-pres.    Adjunct Professor, Hofstra University

2008            Adjunct Professor, Kingsborough Community College

2001-2004    Adjunct Professor, The International Center for Photography, NY, NY

2000-2001    Lecturer in Photography, Yale University, New Haven, CT

1999-2000    Adjunct Professor, School of Visual Arts, NY, NY

1999            Adjunct Professor, SUNY Purchase, Purchase, NY

1998-1999    Professor of Photography, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY

1998            Master Critic, MFA Program in Photography and Related Media, SVA

1997            Guest Professor in Digital Media, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

1994-1995    Art Teacher, The Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ


Education

1995-1997    School of Visual Arts, NY, NY. MFA in Photography and the Related Media

1990-1994    Princeton University, BA, Visual Arts/Art History major, Environmental Studies minor