Nancy Floyd, born in Monticello, Minnesota in 1956,[1] is an American photographer. Her photographic subjects mainly concern women and the female body during youth, pregnancy, and while aging. Her project She's Got a Gun comprises portraits of women and their firearms, which is linked to her Texas childhood. Floyd's work has been shown in 18 solo exhibitions and is held in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Photography and the High Museum of Art.[2] Floyd is a professor emeritus of photography at the Ernest G. Welch School of Art and Design at Georgia State University.[2][3]

Nancy Floyd
Born1956 (age 67–68)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationPhotographer

Education edit

Floyd received her BFA from the University of Texas at Austin (1982). She then went on to receive her Master's degree from Columbia College Chicago (1985) and later her Master of Fine Arts, MFA (1987), from the California Institute of the Arts.[2]

Photography edit

Weathering Time edit

Beginning in 1982, Floyd began photographing herself daily, taking more than 2,500 photos of herself.[4] These photographs focus on the female body, the passing of time, and the loss of family members. Cultural and technological changes are also noted through her self-portraits through accompanying fashion and settings. The work is a reflection of Floyd's personal experiences with aging and mortality by documenting herself in her personal environment to record her own transformations over time. Floyd sought not only to document the passing of time but also to produce work that expressed information about her own generational context.[5] This specific series of work was exhibited in many different galleries and Floyd received multiple awards and scholarships for this series including the ICP / GOST First Photo Book Award.[6][7]

She's Got a Gun edit

To better understand her deceased brother and his love for firearms, Floyd purchased her own gun and discovered a love for the sport and the people she met through it. She began cataloging a visual history of women and guns. In 2008, Floyd published her first book titled, She's Got a Gun, which includes 35 images taken by Floyd of women with guns.[2] The book references American gun women, but it is also a memoir of her Texas childhood since she lost her brother to the Vietnam war at a very young age.[8][9]

10.9 edit

10.9 is another series of photographs that relates closely to Floyd's own love for firearms and the strong women she chooses to photograph. This collection displays images and videos of female competition shooters.[10]

The James M. Floyd Memorial edit

This series of works is a collection of photographs devoted to the brother that she lost when she was only twelve years old. These photographs explore Floyd's feelings about what happened to her brother who died while fighting for the army.[8][11]

Walking Through the Desert with My Eyes Closed edit

Walking Through the Desert with My Eyes Closed is a series of videos of Floyd's feet and the ground as she walks through a desert. Some of these videos include music to go along with the work. [12] The work was exhibited in a solo exhibition at Whitespace Gallery, in Atlanta, Georgia in 2021.[13]

Exhibitions edit

Nancy Floyd has exhibited 18 solo exhibitions and more than 70 group shows. Her exhibitions have been featured in the United States, Japan, and Europe,[14] and include the following galleries:

Selected solo exhibitions edit

Selected group exhibitions edit

  • SHOWING (WORK X FAMILY): (2019) The Art Gallery at the Fulginiti Pavilion, Center for Bioethics and Humanities, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO (2018) University Art Gallery, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock, CA. (2019)
  • Space Nau Bostik Ferran Turné 11, Barcelona, Spain. 5th Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography. (2018)
  • Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY.  Contemporary Photography 2008–2018. Curated by Kristen Gaylord, Beaumont & Nancy (2018)
  • Newhall Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Photography at MoMA. (2018)
  • Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.  Every (single) Day. (2018)
  • Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta. Fast Forward / Rewind. (2017)
  • Marcia Wood Gallery, Atlanta, GA. Unloaded. Curated by Dashboard. (2017)
  • Artwork Network Gallery, Denver CO. Critical Mass Top 50 Show: Markers of Time. Curated by David Rosenberg. (2017)
  • Work | Release, Norfolk, VA.  Under the Gun.  Ten photographs. (2016)

Permanent collections edit

Floyd's work is held in the permanent collections of the following:

Awards and scholarships edit

List of awards and scholarships:[24]

  • 2018: Aaron Siskind Foundation Individual Photographer's Fellowship
  • 2017: Cue Art Foundation Weathering Time exhibition September 7 – October 21, 2017[25]
  • 2017: Finalist, Aperture Portfolio Prize
  • 2016: Cue Art Foundation Fellow: Selected for a solo exhibition at the CUE Art Foundation, New York, NY[26]
  • 2016: Recipient of the Atlanta Photography Group/ High Museum of Art Purchase Award
  • 2015: SPE Future Focus Project Support Grant, Society for Photographic Education in Cleveland, OH.
  • 2015: Artist-in-Residence, Jentel Artist Residency Program, Banner, WY
  • 2015: Artist-in-Residence, Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, Rabun Gap, GA
  • 2014: John Gutmann Photography Fellowship Award, San Francisco, CA.
  • 2002: Artist Project Grant from the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs
  • Artist/writing residency at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences, Rabun Gap, GA; Light Work, Syracuse, NY; and The Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency, Joshua Tree, CA.[27]
  • ICP / GOST First Photo Book Award[7]

Book edit

She's Got a Gun, book length manuscript, 140 images, Temple University Press, 2008. The book includes a section on the history of American gun ladies. That is a visual book including 150 historical photographs of women with weapons, 35 of which were captured by Floyd, and a biography of Floyd's Texas background and the loss of her brother.

Published work edit

  • Featured in:[27]
    • Showing: Pregnancy in the Workplace, 2019[28]
    • Contact Sheet Journal
    • Game Face
    • Pregnant Pictures[29]
    • Heart Shots
    • Gun Women
    • Real Knockouts
    • Bombensicher: Atomic Photographers Guild
    • A Different Kind of War: Vietnam in Art

Interview edit

Lois Reitzes. “City Lights: Nancy Floyd.” WABE Atlanta. 24 November 2017.

References edit

  1. ^ "Light Work Collection / Individual / Nancy Floyd [Floyd, Nancy]". collection.lightwork.org. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "Atomic Photographers Guild Nancy Floyd". atomicphotographers.com. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  3. ^ "Light Work Collection / Artwork / Untitled (From the Hand Gun Series, 1993–Present) [742]". collection.lightwork.org. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  4. ^ "Nancy Floyd". AINT—BAD. September 1, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  5. ^ Sims, Dave. "Weathering Time Statement". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  6. ^ "Winner of the ICP/Gost First Photobook Award Announced". International Center of Photography. December 19, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Weathering Time". GOST. GOST Books. February 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "At Whitespace, Nancy Floyd is artist and subject, archivist and curator". ARTS ATL. November 13, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  9. ^ Sims, Dave. "CV". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  10. ^ Sims, Dave. "10.9 Statement". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  11. ^ Sims, Dave. "The James M. Floyd Memorial Statement". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  12. ^ Sims, Dave. "Walking Through the Desert with My Eyes Closed". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  13. ^ "whitespace presents "Walking Through the Desert with My Eyes Closed" by Nancy Floyd – ACP Festival Guide". festivalguide2021.acpinfo.org. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Atomic Photographers Guild Nancy Floyd". atomicphotographers.com. Retrieved April 13, 2020.
  15. ^ "Weathering Time". Blue Sky Gallery. July 3, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  16. ^ "Nancy Floyd". CUE Art Foundation. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  17. ^ "At Whitespace, Nancy Floyd is artist and subject, archivist and curator". ARTS ATL. November 1, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  18. ^ "Everyday Is Ordinary". Blue Star Contemporary. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  19. ^ "Georgia Artists Selecting Georgia Artists". MOCA GA. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  20. ^ Sims, Dave. "CV". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  21. ^ Sims, Dave. "CV". Nancy Floyd. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  22. ^ "Untitled". MOCP. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  23. ^ "Nancy Floyd Awarded APG/High Museum Purchase Award". SPE National. Retrieved June 5, 2020.
  24. ^ LensCulture, Nancy Floyd |. "Nancy Floyd". LensCulture. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  25. ^ "Nancy Floyd". CUE Art Foundation. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  26. ^ "CUE Art Foundation". CUE Art Foundation. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  27. ^ a b "Nancy Floyd". Spenational.org. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  28. ^ workingassumptions.org (2019). "Showing: Pregnancy in the Workplace". Showing: Pregnancy in the Workplace. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  29. ^ Matthews, Sandra (2000). Pregnant Pictures. Durham, NC: Routledge. pp. 95–7. ISBN 978-0415921206.

External links edit