Claire Beckett (born 1978) is an American photographer known for her exploration of post-

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

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, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

, and served as a

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

Volunteer in

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

, 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, and the only publicly funded independent art sch ...

(MassArt).

Career

Beckett prefers to work with a

large-format Large format photography 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 th ...

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 a dedicated art school within Tufts University, a private research university in Massac ...

. 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 list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

;

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is an art gallery, art museum in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, known for its encyclopedic collection of art from nearly every continent and culture, and especially for its extensive collection of A ...

, 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 Impressionism, Impressionist paintings, Hudson Riv ...

, Hartford; and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

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

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

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 Sy ...

. She also worked in a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

community in

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

. 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 × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

'', ''

Public Culture ''Public Culture'' is a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary academic journal of cultural studies published by Duke University Press. It is sponsored by the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. ''Public Culture'' h ...

'', and the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. 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, 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 Islam is the third-largest religion in the United States, religion in the United States (1.34%) after Christianity in the United States, Christianity (67%) and Judaism in the United States, Judaism (2.4%). The 2020 United States Religion Cens ...

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 ...

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

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

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

, Kansas City, Missouri (2015) * ''The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today'',

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

, 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 (photographer), Barbara Morgan, Dorothea Lange, Nancy Newhall, Beaumont Newhall, Ernest Louie, Melton Ferris, and Dody Warren. Their ...

, 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