Claire Beckett (born 1978) is an American photographer known for her exploration of post- 9/11 America.

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Beckett lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. She became interested in photography early in life and began to make pictures at the age of 16. Beckett went on to earn a BA in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

, and served as a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

Volunteer in

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

, West Africa, before earning an MFA in photography from the

Massachusetts College of Art Massachusetts College of Art and Design, branded as MassArt, is a public college of visual and applied art in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1873, it is one of the nation’s oldest art schools, the only publicly funded independent art school ...

(MassArt).

Career

Beckett prefers to work with a

large-format Large format refers to any imaging format of or larger. Large format is larger than "medium format", the or size of Hasselblad, Mamiya, Rollei, Kowa, and Pentax cameras (using 120- and 220-roll film), and much larger than the frame o ...

4×5 film camera. She has been a visiting faculty member from 2011-2018 at the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is the art school of Tufts University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusett ...

. Beckett’s projects include ''In Training'', a look at young soldiers prior to deployment; ''Hearts and Minds'', an investigation of the depiction of Arabs and Muslims during military training exercises; and ''The Converts'', in which she photographed American converts to Islam. Beckett’s work is held in the collections of the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...

;

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of Asian art. In 2007, ''Time'' magaz ...

, Kansas City;

Wadsworth Atheneum The Wadsworth Atheneum is an art museum in Hartford, Connecticut. The Wadsworth is noted for its collections of European Baroque art, ancient Egyptian and Classical bronzes, French and American Impressionist paintings, Hudson River School lands ...

, Hartford; and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, Cambridge. She has received an Artadia Award, and was

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

Light Work Light Work is a photography center in Syracuse, New York. The artist-run nonprofit supports photographers through a community-access digital lab facility, residencies, exhibitions, and publications. History The organization is housed at Syra ...

. She also worked in a

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

community in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. Her work has been featured in ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ x 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notabl ...

'', ''

Public Culture ''Public Culture'' is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal of cultural studies, published three times a year—in January, May, and September—by Duke University Press. It is sponsored by the Department of Media, Culture, and Commu ...

'', and the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

''. Beckett’s time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in

(2002-2004) had a significant impact on her artwork. She served as a community health worker, living in a rural town with a mixed population of Christians, Muslims, and practitioners of

Vodun Vodun (meaning ''spirit'' in the Fon, Gun and Ewe languages, with a nasal high-tone ''u''; also spelled Vodon, Vodoun, Vodou, Vudu, Voudou, Voodoo, etc.) is a religion practiced by the Aja, Ewe, and Fon peoples of Benin, Togo, Ghana, and ...

, the local traditional faith. During these years, the United States was at war in Afghanistan and Iraq. The experience of deep cultural immersion, coupled with hearing firsthand her Beninese neighbors’ criticism of the wars, caused Beckett to view her home country with new eyes. Since then, themes of military training and the tension surrounding Islam in America have been prominent in her work.

Selected exhibitions

Solo

* ''Simulating Iraq'', Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts (2007) * ''You Are…'', Carroll and Sons Gallery (2011) * ''Claire Beckett: Matrix 163'',

, Hartford, Connecticut (2011) * ''The Converts'', Carroll and Sons Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts (2016)

Group

* ''Warzone'', Noorderlicht Photography Festival, Leeuwarden, Netherlands (2010) * ''Reality Check'', Fotodok, Utrecht, Netherlands (2011) * ''The Workers'',

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art The Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) is a museum in a converted Arnold Print Works factory building complex located in North Adams, Massachusetts. It is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing ar ...

, North Adams, Massachusetts (2011) * ''Character Study'',

DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is a 30-acre sculpture park and contemporary art museum on the shore of Flint's Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts, 20 miles northwest of Boston. It was established in 1950. It is the largest park of its kind ...

, Lincoln, Massachusetts (2013) * ''American Soldier'',

, Kansas City, Missouri (2015) * ''The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today'', National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC (2016) * ''On Freedom'', curated by For Freedom,

Aperture Foundation Aperture Foundation is a nonprofit arts institution, founded in 1952 by Ansel Adams, Minor White, Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their vision was to create a forum fo ...

, New York, New York (2017) * ''Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul'',

, Syracuse, New York (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Claire 1978 births Living people 21st-century American photographers Kenyon College alumni Massachusetts College of Art and Design alumni 21st-century American women photographers