David S. Allee (born 1969) is an American artist and

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

Education

Allee received an undergraduate degree in economics and government from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1991, and his MFA in photography from the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

(2001). He began his career as an urban planner before switching to photography.

Photography

Allee's photographs are focused on the built environment, and on architecture in particular. He is well known for using found available light at night in his work, beginning with ''White Nights'' (2000–03) and followed by ''Cross Lands'' and, most recently, ''Chasing Firefly''. He has also exhibited and published series of images of the abandoned

Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center Harlem Valley State Hospital, south of the hamlet of Wingdale, New York, Wingdale in the town of Dover, New York, Dover, was a New York State psychiatric hospital that operated from 1924 to 1994. History The grounds were originally slated to be ...

(2006–10) and the defunct

Domino Sugar Refinery The Domino Sugar Refinery is a mixed-use development and former sugar refinery in the neighborhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York City, along the East River. When active as a refinery, it was operated by the Havemeyer family's Ame ...

in Brooklyn (2013–14). In 2020, he used a tilt-shift lens to control perspective while taking frontal photographs of

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

s closed due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''David S. Allee,''

Knoxville Museum of Art The Knoxville Museum of Art (KMA), is an art museum in Knoxville, Tennessee. It specializes in historical and contemporary art pieces from the East Tennessee region. According to its mission statement, the museum "celebrates the art and artists ...

, 2004 *''Dark Day,'' Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York City, 2011 *''Frame of View,'' Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York City, 2013

Group exhibitions

*''Selections from the Bronx Museum Permanent Collection,''

Bronx Museum of the Arts The Bronx Museum of the Arts (BxMA), also called the Bronx Museum of Art or simply the Bronx Museum, is an American cultural institution located in Concourse, Bronx, New York. The museum focuses on contemporary and 20th-century works created by ...

, New York, 2014 *''Behind the Wheel,'' Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, 2012

Collections

*Bronx Museum of the Arts *Santa Barbara Museum of Art *Knoxville Museum of Art

References

External links

Artist's website

Eye of Photography, ''David S. Allee Chasing Firefly''

1969 births American photographers Living people Cornell University alumni School of Visual Arts alumni Friends Seminary alumni {{US-photographer-stub