Leo Rubinfien (born 1953) is an American photographer and essayist who lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Rubinfien first came to prominence as part of the circle of artist-photographers who investigated new color techniques and materials in the 1970s. Among his principal bodies of photography are ''A Map of The East'' (1992), which explores the character and idiosyncrasies of Japan, China and Southeast Asia; and ''Wounded Cities'' (2008), which explores the "mental wounds" that were left by the terror attacks in New York City in 2001, and other attacks in cities around the world. He has had a solo exhibition at the

National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo The , also known as MOMAT, is the foremost museum collecting and exhibiting modern Japanese art. The museum, in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, is known for its collection of 20th-century art and includes Western-style and ''Nihonga'' artists. It has a bra ...

. He has also curated exhibitions. Rubinfien is also a writer, who has published essays on major photographers of the 20th century. He contributed a memoir, ''Colors of Daylight'' to ''Starburst: Color Photography in America, 1970-1980'' (2010). He is co-author of ''Shomei Tomatsu / Skin of the Nation'' (2004) and editor of ''Garry Winogrand'' (2013). He is the recipient of a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

and his work is held in the collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

in New York City. Rubinfien was born in Chicago and grew up in Japan. He attended

Reed College Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...

from 1970-72, and then the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...

, where obtained his BFA in 1974. He then went on to receive his MFA from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1977. He is an assistant professor at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

Publications

Books of photographs by Rubinfien

* ''A Map of the East.'' Boston: D.R. Godine, 1992

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, Toshi Shuppan. . * ''10 Takeoffs 5 Landings.'' Robert Mann Gallery, 1994. . * ''Wounded Cities.'' Göttingen, Germany:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher based in Göttingen, Germany. Founded in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl, it publishes photobooks. Overview The company was started by Gerhard Steidl.Bill Kouwenhoven, "Off to see the wizard", ''British Journa ...

, 2008. . Photographs and a personal and historical essay by Rubinfien in ''Wounded Cities'', which recounts the attacks of

September 11th, 2001 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. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...

and the years that followed. * ''The Ardbeg.'' Tokyo: Taka Ishii Gallery and Kurenboh, 2010. With an essay by Rubinfien. Edition of 1000 copies. Japanese and English text. 15 pages. * ''Paths through the Global City.'' Stanford, CA: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, 2011. * ''Kizu Tsuita no Machi'' = "''Wounded Cities''". Tokyo: National Museum of Modern Art, 2011. * ''New Turns in Old Roads.'' Tokyo: Taka Ishii Gallery, 2014.

Publications edited by Rubinfien

* ''Shomei Tomatsu / Skin of the Nation.'' 2004. Rubinfien was co-author. * ''Garry Winogrand.''

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern art, modern and contemporary art museum and nonprofit organization located in San Francisco, California. SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th-century art ...

and

, 2013. Rubinfien was editor and Author. Photographs by

Garry Winogrand Garry Winogrand (; January 14, 1928 – March 19, 1984) was an American street photographer, who portrayed U.S. life and its social issues in the mid-20th century. Photography curator, historian, and critic John Szarkowski called Winogrand the ...

Publications with contributions by Rubinfien

* ''Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980''. Berlin: Hatje Cantz, 2010. By Kevin Moore. . With essays by Rubinfien and James Crump. *''Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation.'' New Haven, CT:

, 2004. By Rubinfien, Sandra S. Phillips, and John W. Dower. . With a preface by

Daidō Moriyama is a Japanese photographer best known for his black-and-white street photography and association with the avant-garde photography magazine ''Provoke (magazine), Provoke''. Moriyama began his career as an assistant to photographer Eikoh Hosoe, ...

Awards

*1982:

from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed 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 Gr ...

Japan Foundation The is a Japanese foundation that spreads Japanese culture around the world. Based in Tokyo, it was established in 1972 by an Act of the National Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture. I ...

fellowship *

Asian Cultural Council The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, A ...

fellowship *International Center for Advanced Studies at New York University fellowship *2009: Gold Prize at the 5th Lianzhou International Photography Festival

Collections

, New York City: 9 prints *

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York: 1 print (as of November 2019) *

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, New York: 2 prints (as of November 2019)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* 1984:

Philadelphia College of Art Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the sixth-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 1,603,797 in the 2020 census. The city is the urb ...

* 1993:

, New York * 1993: Seibu Art Forum, Sezon Museum, Tokyo * 1994:

Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Art Museum (commonly known as SAM) is an art museum located in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The museum operates three major facilities: its main museum in downtown Seattle; the Seattle Asian Art Museum in ...

, Seattle, Washington * 1994:

Cleveland Museum of Art The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is an art museum in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Located in the Wade Park District of University Circle, the museum is internationally renowned for its substantial holdings of Asian art, Asian and Art of anc ...

* 1995: Artists' Loft & Gallery, Galveston, Texas * 2008:

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art is a former art museum in Washington, D.C., that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Founded in 1869 by philanthropist William Wilson Corco ...

, Washington, D.C. * 2009:

, San Francisco, CA * 2010: Kurenboh, Tokyo * 2011: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA * 2011:

* 2011:

Yale University Art Gallery The Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG) is an art museum in New Haven, Connecticut. It houses a major encyclopedic collection of art in several interconnected buildings on the campus of Yale University. Although it embraces all cultures and period ...

* 2011:

Art Academy of Cincinnati The Art Academy of Cincinnati is a private college of art and design in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded as the McMicken School of Design in 1869, and was a department of the University of Cincinnati, and later in 1887, became the Art Academy ...

* 2013:

Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome The Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, , usually known as MACRO, is a municipal contemporary art museum in Rome, Italy. The museum is housed in two separate places: a former brewery in Via Nizza, in the Salario quartiere of the city; and a form ...

, Rome

Curated exhibitions

*2001–2004: Co-curator of the

(SFMOMA)’s retrospective of the work of Shomei Tomatsu *2010: Curator of SFMOMA’s retrospective of the work of

, which toured to the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

, Washington, the

, New York and the

Jeu de Paume ''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, ...

, Paris, in 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubinfien, Leo 1953 births Living people Reed College alumni Yale University alumni California Institute of the Arts alumni