Leo Rubinfien (born 1953) is an American photographer and essayist who lives and works in New York City. 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.[1] He has had a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. 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 and his work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Rubinfien was born in Chicago and grew up in Japan. He attended Reed College from 1970-72, and then the California Institute of the Arts, where obtained his BFA in 1974. He then went on to receive his MFA from Yale University in 1977. [2][3] He is an assistant professor at Fordham University.[4]

Publications edit

Books of photographs by Rubinfien edit

  • A Map of the East. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1992 Thames & Hudson, Toshi Shuppan. ISBN 0879239433.
  • 10 Takeoffs 5 Landings. Robert Mann Gallery, 1994. ASIN B0006PBJ0Y.
  • Wounded Cities. Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2008. ISBN 978-3-86521-676-2. Photographs and a personal and historical essay by Rubinfien in Wounded Cities, which recounts the attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the years that followed.[5]
  • 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 edit

Publications with contributions by Rubinfien edit

Awards edit

Collections edit

Exhibitions edit

Solo exhibitions edit

Curated exhibitions edit

References edit

  1. ^ Jobey, Liz (13 November 2008). "Photographer Leo Rubinfien: the day the world changed". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Leo Rubinfien: Eyehold to Eyehold - Cooley Gallery - Reed College". Reed College. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  3. ^ "Leo Rubinfien". Godine. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  4. ^ "Leo Rubinfien". Fraenkel Gallery. 1982-12-01. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  5. ^ Jobey, Liz (13 November 2008). "Liz Jobey looks at Leo Rubinfien's personal portrait of the impact of 9/11". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-11-03 – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. ^ O'Hagan, Sean (18 May 2013). "Garry Winogrand, edited by Leo Rubinfien et al – review". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 2019-11-03 – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. ^ "Leo Rubinfien". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved 26 August 2017.
  8. ^ "Search / 20 results for "Leo Rubinfien"". Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed 26 August 2017
  9. ^ "Leo Rubinfien". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  10. ^ "Leo Rubinfien". Whitney Museum of American Art. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  11. ^ "Levitt and Rubinfien Photographs at the Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University". web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  12. ^ "Leo Rubinfien: Wounded Cities". National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. Accessed 26 August 2017
  13. ^ "Leo Rubinfien: 'Wounded Cities'". Time Out Tokyo. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  14. ^ O'Hagan, Sean (15 October 2014). "Garry Winogrand: the restless genius who gave street photography attitude". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-11-03 – via www.theguardian.com.