Image Credit: Anya McInroy
"Leon Borensztein brings this tradition to bear in his work, but does not belabor it. He shot modest homes, inhabited by unassuming people. He instructed his subjects specifically not to smile, a marked contrast from the faux-mirth and conviviality of his commercial work, which often relied on the same subjects. Reflecting on what the portraits represented, Borensztein once suggested his black and white images reflect the alienation so typical of today's America."
- Ishaan Tharoor
Leon Borensztein is an internationally acclaimed photographer whose areas of focus are in psychological portraiture and documentary. Throughout his artistic career he has been driven by the need to give voice to the unheard and unseen. His latest book “Sharon” is a testimony of a father documenting every stage of the challenged life of his severely disabled daughter. His earlier published books “Metamorphosis”, “One is Adam, One is Superman” and “American Portraits” are visual documentations of salient moments in the lives of his subject’s.
Born in Poland in 1947, Borensztein received an MFA with honors from the San Francisco Art Institute and additionally received the Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship in 1987. He has exhibited his work in nearly 10 countries and 32 cities internationally, at numerous galleries and museums. His work is included in the collections of Biblioteque Nationale Paris, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, San Francisco MOMA, Chicago Art Institute, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography and among other institutions. His photography has appeared in Life Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar, while reviews and profiles have been published in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Vogue, Fortune, Huffington Post, and countless others. He teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute and lives in Oakland, CA.
Born
1947 Poland
Education
1980 MFA, Photography, Honors, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
1974 BFA, Creative Art & Geography, University of Haifa, Israel
Teaching
2004-Present San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
2004 California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland
2002 San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
2000 San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
1998 San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
1994 San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
1991 The Friends of Photography, Annual Member Workshop
1986 University of California, Berkeley
1979 San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco
1975-7 Art Department, University of Haifa
Selected Public Collections
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois • Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, France • Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona • Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris, France • Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas • Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
• Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon • Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California • Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan • di Rosa Preserve • B.P. America • First National Bank of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2015 Michael Foley Gallery, New York, New York (2 person show)
Smith Andersen North Gallery, San Rafael
2005 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California
1995 Center for Creative Growth, Oakland, California
1989 The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (3 person show)
1988 Centre Nationale de la Photographie, Paris, France
1987 The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio
Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Bay Vista Gallery, Miami, Florida
1986 The Friends of Photography, Carmel, California
Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
School of Art and Architecture, University of Illinois
1985 San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco
1984 Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon
Photographers’ Gallery, London
1977 University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
1976 Beth Katz Gallery, Haifa, Israel
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 Pier 24 Gallery, San Francisco, California
Religare Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
DiRosa Preserve, Napa, California
2010 Museum Gugging, Maria Gugging, Austria
2007 ABCD Gallery, Paris, France
2006 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California
2004 Musee de la Mode de Marseille, Marseille, France
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California
2003 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California
2002 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California
Center for Photographic Art, Carmel, California
2001 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California
2000 Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California
1999 Faculty Exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
1998 Faculty Exhibition, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
Di Rosa Preserve, Napa, California
1997 Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1996 G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica, California
Osaka Takashimaya, Osaka, Japan
Laforet Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan
Fernbank Museum, Atlanta, Georgia
Portland State University, Portland, Oregon
S.F. Art Institute 50 Years of Photography, San Francisco, California
1995 Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo, Japan
Fotos Gallery, San Francisco, California
1994 Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, Oregon
1992 Portraits of 20 Century, Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, California
Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California
1991 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Napa Valley Museum, Napa, California
1990 Athletes, traveling exhibition sponsored by The Smithsonian
Institute and International Center for Photography
Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio
San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, California
1989 The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago (3 person show)
New York State Museum, Albany, New York
Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California
Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, California
1988 Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California
Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, California
Photographic Resource Center, Boston, Massachussets
The Field Museum, Chicago, Illinois
1987 Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California
Tartt Gallery, Washington, DC.
Hoffman Borman Gallery, Santa Monica, California
1986 Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, California
Aperture Foundation, “Mothers and Daughters” (traveling)
Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon (A Commitment to Vision)
San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, California
Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1985 Faculty Exhibition, University of California, San Francisco, California
Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1984 San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, California
1983 Nexus Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
1974 America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
1973 America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
1972 America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel
1971 Israeli Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Selected Publications
2016 GUP Magazine, Amsterdam, Holland
SHOTS 131, USA
2011 “American Psyche” Catalog, Religare Art Gallery, New Delhi, India
2010 “Judith”, Museum Gugging, Austria
2007 l’Art Brut, Lausanne, Switzerland
2003 “Touching Feeling”, Duke University Press, Durham
1999 “Local Colors”, The di Rosa Collection of Contemporary
California Art, Chronicle Books, San Francisco
1996 Life Magazine, December, New York
1995 “American Photography”, New York
“Harper’s Magazine”, June, New York
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Catalog
“ZYZZYVA” Tenth-Anniversary Issue, San Francisco
“Nippon Camera”, August, Tokyo, Japan
1994 “The New York Times Magazine”, New York
“Lifelines”, Dutton Children Books, New York
1991 “Dog Prints”, Chronicle Books, San Francisco
1990 “ZYZZYVA”, San Francisco
1989 “Dogs Days”, Chronicle Books, San Francisco
“Photo Magazine”, February, Paris, France
1988 “Cliches”, No. 47, July, Paris, France
“Cross Country, Cross Currents”, San Francisco / Boston
1987 “Mothers and Daughters”, Aperture, New York
“Athletes”, A. Knopf, New York
1986 “San Francisco Observed”, Chronicle Books, San Francisco
“ZYZZYVA”, San Francisco
“Commitment to Vision”, Museum of Art, Eugene, Oregon
“J.A.C.O.B.S’” Letter, San Francisco
1985 “Photo”, Paris, France
1984 Leon Borensztein, Catalogue, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland
1983 “Photographies Magazine”, Numero 2, Paris, France
Selected Awards
2003 California Council for the Humanities
1995 1st Tokyo International Photo-Biennale
11th American Photography in photojournalism, NY Times Magazine.
Society of Newspaper Design in Photojournalism, NY Times Magazine.
1987 J.S. Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship
Published Books
2016 “Sharon”, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany
2012 “Portraits ii”, Nazareli Press
2011 “American Portraits 1979-1989”, Nazareli Press
2004 “One is Adam One is Superman”, Chronicle Books, San Francisco
1977 “Metamorphosis”, Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland
Photographs in Movies
1997 “Mothers and Daughters” documentary film, ABC, USA
1991 “Challenge Anneka” TV program ABC, Australia