Gregory Halpern (born 1977) is an American

photographer A photographer (the 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 photographers As in other ...

and teacher. He currently teaches at the

Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is a private university, private research university in the town of Henrietta, New York, Henrietta in the Rochester, New York, metropolitan area. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree ...

and is a nominee member of

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in New York City, Paris, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David "Chim" Seymour, Maria Eis ...

. Halpern has published a number of books of his own work; ''Zzyzx'' won PhotoBook of the Year at the 2016

Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards is a yearly photography book award that is given jointly by Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation. It is announced at the Paris Photo fair and was established in 2012. The categories are First P ...

. He 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 ...

in 2014.

Life and work

Halpern grew up in Buffalo, New York. He holds a BA in history and literature from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and an MFA from

California College of the Arts California College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded in Berkeley, California in 1907 and moved to a historic estate in Oakland, California in 1922. In 1996 it opened a second campus in San ...

. He has taught at California College of the Arts,

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 ...

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 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 ...

, Harvard University and the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

. He currently teaches at the

. ''Omaha Sketchbook'' (2009) is an artist's book portrait of the titular city. '' Harvard Works Because We Do'' (2003) is a book of photographs and text, presenting a portrait of

through the eyes of the school's service employees. ''A'' (2011) is a photographic ramble through the streets of the American

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions a ...

. ''East of the Sun, West of the Moon'' is a collaboration with the photographer Ahndraya Parlato. ''Zzyzx'' (2016), named after

Zzyzx, California Zzyzx ( ), formerly Soda Springs, is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, within the boundaries of the Mojave National Preserve, managed by the National Park Service (NPS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Inter ...

, contains photographs from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. ''Let the Sun Beheaded Be'' (2020) was made over several months in the French archipelago of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

. In 2018 Halpern became a nominee member of

Publications

Publications by Halpern

* '' Harvard Works Because We Do.'' New York: Quantuck Lane/ W.W. Norton, 2003. With an introduction by

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral hi ...

* ''Omaha Sketchbook.'' J&L, 2009. * ''A.'' J&L, 2011. * ''Zzyzx.'' London: Mack, 2016. * ''Confederate Moons.'' Oakland, CA: TBW, 2018. . Annual Series 6, Book 3. Halpern, Guido Guidi, Jason Fulford, and Viviane Sassen each had one book in a set of four. Edition of 1000 copies. * ''Let the Sun Beheaded Be.'' New York: Aperture, 2020. .

Publications with others

*''The Photographer's Playbook: 307 Assignments and Ideas.'' New York:

Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

, 2014. . Edited by Halpern and Jason Fulford. *''East of the Sun, West of the Moon.'' Études Books N°8. Paris: Études, 2014. By Ahndraya Parlato and Halpern. . With a text by Nicholas Muellner. Edition of 300 copies. In English and French.

Awards

*2014:

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 Fellowships to professionals who have demonstrated exceptional ...

*2016: ''Zzyzx'' won PhotoBook of the Year,

, Paris.

References

External links

*
Gregory Halpern On Documentary Ethics – Preoccupations, Subjectivity and Untruths (2013)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halpern, Gregory 1977 births Living people People from Buffalo, New York Harvard University alumni California College of the Arts alumni American photographers Magnum photographers