Leon Borensztein (born 22 May 1947) is an American photographer whose work reflects long-term and in-depth projects. His areas of focus are in psychological portraiture and documentary. Borensztein has received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

and his work is included in various public collections. His published books ''Metamorphosis'' (1977, with John MacGregor), ''One is Adam, One is Superman'' (2004) and ''American Portraits'' (2011) document salient moments in the lives of his subjects, and ''Sharon'' (2016) documents every stage of the life of his severely disabled daughter.

Life and work

Borensztein was born in Poland. He received a BA in creative art and geography from the University of Haifa, Israel in 1974. He left Israel for the US in 1977 and received an MFA in photography from

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

in 1980. The biggest influence on his work has been his life experience. His art is intended to give voice to the unheard and unseen. Borensztein has worked for ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

,'' ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

,'' ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

,'' ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

,'' and others. His work has also appeared in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...

.'' Since 1975, Borensztein has held various teaching positions in

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

; University of California, Berkeley;

Friends of Photography Friends of Photography was a nonprofit organization started by Ansel Adams and others in 1967 to promote photography as a fine art. During its existence the organization held at least 330 photography exhibitions at its galleries in Carmel and San Fr ...

(Annual Member Workshop);

California College of Arts and Crafts California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

, Oakland; and San Francisco Art Institute.

Publications

Publications by Borensztein

* ''One is Adam One is Superman: Outsider artists of Creative Growth.'' San Francisco:

Chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...

, 2004. . With an introduction by Tom di Maria and an essay by John M. MacGregor. * ''American Portraits 1979–1989.'' Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2011. Edited by

Todd Hido Todd Hido (born 25 August 1968) is an American photographer. He has produced 17 books, had his work exhibited widely and included in various public collections. Hido is currently an adjunct professor at the California College of the Arts in San F ...

. . With an essay by Sandra S. Phillips. * ''Portraits ii.'' Portland, OR: Nazareli, 2012. . * ''Sharon.'' Heidelberg, Germany: Kehrer, 2016. .

Publications with others

* ''Metamorphosis. The Fiber Art of Judith Scott.'' Collaboration with John M. MacGregor. Oakland:

Creative Growth Art Center Creative Growth Art Center is a nonprofit arts organization, based in Oakland, California, that provides studios, supplies, and gallery space to artists with developmental, mental, and physical disabilities. It is one of the oldest and largest art ...

, 1977. . * ''Witness No. 7.'' Portland, OR: Nazraeli, 2009. . Photographs by Borensztein and Todd Hido, and photographs of images from books by various people that have inspired Hido.

Award

* 1987:

in Photography from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...

Collections

Borensztein's work is held in the following permanent public collections: *

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago's Grant Park, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. Recognized for its curatorial efforts and popularity among visitors, the museum hosts approximately 1.5 mill ...

, Chicago, IL *

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

, Paris, France *

Center for Creative Photography The Center for Creative Photography (CCP), established in 1975 and located on the University of Arizona's Tucson campus, is a research facility and archival repository containing the full archives of over sixty of the most famous American pho ...

, Tucson, AZ * Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris *

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), is an art museum located in the Houston Museum District of Houston, Texas. With the recent completion of an eight-year campus redevelopment project, including the opening of the Nancy and Rich Kinder Build ...

, TX *

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, San Francisco, CA *

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art :''see also the ''Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art'', Washington State University, Pullman, Washington Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The original building ...

, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR *

Museum of Photographic Arts The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA) is a museum in San Diego's Balboa Park. First founded in 1974, MOPA opened in 1983.Tokyo Photographic Art Museum The is an art museum concentrating on photography. As the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, it was founded by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and is in Meguro-ku, a short walk from Ebisu station in southwest Tokyo. The museum also ...

, Tokyo, Japan *

Di rosa di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art is a non-profit art center in Napa, California. di Rosa maintains a collection of approximately 1,600 works of art by Northern California artists including Robert Arneson, Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Tony Labat, an ...

PreserveLooking at you looking at me
.

. Accessed 26 February 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borensztein, Leon 1947 births Living people Polish emigrants to Israel American photographers