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Biography

Over the past thirty years David Graham has brought compassion and humor to all phases of his career.  Internationally recognized as a photographer of the American dream, David has documented the homes we have built, our lives both public and private, and a purely American expression of “freedom.”

David Graham was born in Abington, Pennsylvania.  He received a BA from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and his MFA in Photography from the Tyler School of Art.  Graham studied under Ray Metzker and Will Larson, and was mentored by Emmet Gowin.  He has taught at Moore College of Art and is currently on the faculty at The University of the Arts.

Tirelessly traveling throughout the United States, Graham captures the colorful and sometimes surreal in the American landscape.  Graham seeks out subjects that celebrate our singular freedom of expression, whether in colorful roadside attractions, idiosyncratic sculptures, or everyday people who revel in impersonating famous characters - from show biz (Elvis) to American history (Thomas Jefferson). Chronicling the American scene with this unique sensibility, Graham celebrates the creativity and dreams of the common man.

Graham also reveals a tender sensibility towards people’s private side, as in his Alone Together series – simple but emotionally strong images at the home of a couple who lived in total isolation with no modern amenities, on an island off the coast of Maine, for 35 years. The New York Times described it as “one of the great love stories of the last century.”

Graham has published several books of his work including Taking Liberties, Ay, Cuba!, and Alone Together, as well as American Beauty and Land of the Free, which were published by Aperture, and most recently Almost Paradise  published by Pond Press.  His work has appeared in The New York Times, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.  He has had solo exhibitions at the International Center of Photography in New York, the Institute for Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, and The Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, among others.