Profile
Vincent Cianni is a documentary photographer whose work explores community, memory, and social justice issues through image, text and audio. Cianni holds an MFA in Photography from SUNY New Paltz and teaches at Parsons, The New School for Design in NYC. He is the founder and director of the Newburgh community Photo Project, a grassroots community-based non-profit that teaxhes photography and activism to local youth (16-24 years old) from disadavntaged neighborhoods in Newburgh, NY. The Archive for Documentary Arts (Duke University) established a study archive of his photographic work in 2007. We Skate Hardcore, published by NYU Press and the Center for Documentary Studies in 2004, was awarded the American Association of University Press Best Book Design and a major survey of this work was exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York in 2006. Gays in the Military, an investigation into the effects of the military’s ban on the lives and careers of LGBT service members was published by Daylight Books in May 2014 and was featured in the New York Times Sunday Review and The Katie Couric Show. He recently presented at TEDxUniversityofNevada and has lectured on the book at the Library of Congress, the American Psychiatric Association and OutServe/SLDN Leadership Conference. Cianni’s photographs have appeared in The New Republic, Aperture, Double Take, The New Yorker, Slate, ViceUK, Photography as Activism; New York 400: A Visual History of America’s Greatest City; The Polaroid Book and numerous anthologies and online magazines. His photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally at the Stephen Daiter Gallery, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the George Eastman House as well as in international photo festivals at Houston Fotofest, KOLGA Tbilisi Photo Festival, the 7th Internaltionale Fototage Mannheim. His photographs reside in numerous public and private collections including Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro; The Library of Congress; The Kinsey Institute for Sexual Research; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; George Eastman House; Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Degrees Held
MFA Photography. State University of New York, The College at New Paltz, New Paltz, NY.
The Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD.
BS Community Development. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
Professional Affiliation
Society for Photographic Education
Recent Publications
PUBLICATIONS
Season's Greetings (editor), Daylight Books, 2016
Gays in the Military Daylight.Co Digital, Hillsboro, NC, 2014
Gays in the Military, Daylight Books, Hillsboto, NC, 2014
Guidobono, Raffaella. The Detour Book. Moleskine: Milan, 2012
Collateral Damage: The Human Face of War, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2012
Bogre, Michelle. Photography as Activism: Images for Social Change. Boston: Focal Press, 2011
MCNY. New York 400: A Visual History of America’s Greatest City. MCNY: Running Press, 2009
Pieces: The Hills Have Eyes. DVD reissue of the cult classis. September 2008
Cianni, Vincent and Uwe Faletrmeier, ed., Hardcore Skaters, Photographie. Essen: VVA Kommunikation GmbH, June 2006
Crist, Steve, ed., The Polaroid Book: Selections from the Polaroid Collection of Photography.
Taschen: Cologne, 2005. Essay by Barbara Hitchcock.
Cianni, Vincent. We Skate Hardcore. New York University Press/Lyndhurst Books of the Center for Documentary Studies: New York, 2004.
We Skate Hardcore, Vincent Cianni, Seon Soon Park, ed.. Photography. Seoul, Korea: Monthly Photo, October 2004, Vol. 441.
We Skate Hardcore, McKnight, Lynn, ed., Document. Durham, NC: The Center for Documentary Studies, Summer/Fall 2004.
_____. Manifestations: Photographs of Men. Daytona Beach, FL: Southeast Museum of Photography, 2004. (exhibition catalog)
_____. Seven Square Blocks. University Park, PA: The PennStater, 2002. Vol. 85, No. 4, pp.40-49.
_____. Contact Sheet: The Light Work Annual 2001. Syracuse: Light Work, 2001. Number 112,
_____. Blue Sky #29 & 30. Portland, OR: Blue Sky Gallery, June 2001. pp. 37-40.
Vincent Cianni. Burke, Julie, ed. The Sun. Chapel Hill, NC: The Sun Publishing Company, Inc., February 2000. (Issue 290, pp. 24-29, 13 photographs)
Cianni, Vincent and Rick Woodward, ed. “Work in Progress”. Double Take Magazine, Somerville, MA: Double Take, 1999. (Fall 1999, pp. 102-107, 9 photographs)
Luciano, James, ed. “Black and White Photography - An International Collection”. Rockport Publishers, Gloucester, MA. 1999.
Leddick, David. 1000 Male Nudes. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen Verlag GmbH, 1998. pp. 598,599.
Hamburg Kennedy, Marla and Susan Martin, eds. Little Devils. New York + Los Angeles: Picture This Publications, 1997. p. 57.
Delirium. Hunt, W.M. and Harris, Melissa, Eds. Aperture. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 1997. Number 148, Fall 1997, p.22, One reproduction. Introduction by W.M. Hunt. .
______. Cianni, Vincent and Brittain, David. Creative Camera. London: Creative Camera, 1997. June/July 1997. Essay: David Brittain, p. 4, Four reproductions, p. 8-9, 14-15.
______. La Fotografia. Barcelona, Spain: Actual S.L./La Fotografia, 1996. (Number 58, December 1996) Ten reproductions and artist's statement.
______. ReFlex. Mexico City, Mexico: Entre Letras, 1996. (Ano 2, Number 10, Dec. 1996, pp. 23-27) Ten reproductions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jones, Shanna. Vincent Cianni Tells the Stories of Gays in the US Military. ViceUK. April 10, 2015
Christie, Joel. Serving with PRIDE. The Daily Mail. April 11, 2015
Cornet, Laurence. Vincent Cianni: Gays in the Military. L’Oeil de la Photographie. November18, 2014
Rosemary Booth. Secret Service. The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide, Oct 30, 2014
Jeffrey James Keyes. Gays in the Military. QUEERTY. October 18, 2014
Carlucci, Antonio. Soldiers, Gay and Proud. L’Espresso Italia. September 26, 2014
Bradner, Liesl. Book Watch: Gays in the Military. City Watch, July 8, 2014
Bradner, Liesl. Book Watch: Gays in the Military. Truth Dig, July 4, 2014
Katie Couric. Gay in the Military. Katie Couric Show. June 9, 2014
Rosenberg, David. An Intimate Look at the Lives of Gay Service Members. Slate, May 2, 2014 (online)
Hartman, Susan. Brooklyn Boxer Rises. The New York Times, April 4, 2014 (print/online)
____. Vincent Cianni’s Gays in the Military. ABC, March 2014 (online)
Frank, Nathaniel. Out, and Serving.The New York Times Sunday Review March 9, 2014 (print/online)
Kasia Broussalian, A Photographer sheds light on “Gays in the Military”. The New_S (The New School). March 14, 2014
Alison Rooney, Humanitarian Issues Explored Through Fovea’s Lens. Phillipstown.Info, Sept 6, 2012.
Stephanie Simon, London, NYC Streetscapes Collide At New MCNY Exhibit, NY 1, July 30, 2012.
Marisa Iati, Two Cities that Click, New York Daily News, August 6, 2012
Gays in the Military, La Lettre de la Photographie (blog), February 13, 2012
Photograph, January-February, 2012
DART Design Arts Daily, Pick of the Week 1.12.2012
Bachevanova, Svetlana. Foto Winess, FotoEvidence, January, 2012 (Interview)
Murphy, Mary. ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Through a Camera Lens The Pennstater, June 17, 2011
Galleries and Museums, Chronogram, December 2011, p.44 Feature Photograph
Chatterton, Troy. The Photographed Faces of DADT. The New Gay, November 15, 2010 (blog)
Needelman, Sophie. Gay Travel.com (Interview and blog)
Gays in the Military: How America Thanked Me. Village Voice Listings
Own This City. TimeOut New York, November 11-17, 2010, p. 48 (and TimeOut New York Beta)
(photo), Spare Times, New York Times, August 4, 2006, p. E30
Aletti, Vince. The New Yorker, July 31, 2006
(photo), Galleries, The New Yorker, July 10 & 17, p. 20
Rexer, Lyle. On The Cover. Photograph, July/August 2006 (cover image and article)
Apelbaum, Alec. Blade in Full, Time Out New York. May 25-31, 2006, p. 75. Feature: Around Town
Aletti, Vince. Avenue Magazine, New York, NY. Nov 2005, Auction Review.
Noted Books, Photography Quarterly, Center for Photography at Woostock, NY. Fall, 2005, p. 38
Books Noted and Received, Aperture, Rochester, NY, March/April 2005, p. 15
Suitable for Framing: Books picture world and its people. The Dallas Morning News. Dallas, TX: December 20, 2004, 2nd Edition.
PhotoBooks. Vince Aletti. Photograph. New York: November/December 2004
We Skate Hardcore, Vincent Cianni. Anthony LaSala. Photo District News: November 2004
_______. Arts and Entertainment. Boston Sunday Globe. Boston, MA: November 28, 2004
New from NYU Press. NYU Today. November 12, 2004
__________. Maureen Manzano. The Sunday Times. Scranton, PA: October, 2004
Good Life. Nicole Edwards. Poughkeepsie Journal. Poughkeepsie, NY: October 11, 2004
Skater Boyz. Lisa J. Curtis. Brooklyn Paper. Brooklyn, NY: October 19, 2004
We Skate Hardcore., Eric Harris. Block Magazine. Brooklyn, NY, Vol. 2, Issue 14, September 2004
Inside Source. Washington Post, Washington, D.C.: September 12, 2004
Skaters and the Street. The Chronicle of Higher Education. September 10, 2004.
A Brooklyn comme a la ZUP. P. Najean. Est Republicain. Epinal, France: Est Republicain, Jan 16, 1998
Portraits de rue de Brooklyn a Epinal. W. Koscinski. Est Republicain. Epinal, France. Jan 12, 1998
Un New-yorkais des rues sur un plateau. Sabine Lesur. La Liberte de l'est. Epinal, France: La Liberte de l'est, January 9, 1998
Les jeunes se font tirer le portrait. Sabine Lesur. La Liberte de l'est. Epinal, France: La Liberte de l'est, January 15, 1998
Tranches de vie imagees du Bronx (sic). Sabine Lesur. La Liberte de l'est. Epinal, France: La Liberte de l'est, January 19, 1998.
Performances and Appearances
RECENT ONE-PERSON AND SMALL-GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 -Photography after Stonewall, Soho Photo Gallery
2019 -Vincent Cianni: A Survey. Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA
2017 -A Journey Through the Early Years of AIDS, 2017 World AIDS Day, Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Brooklyn, NY
2017 -Gays in the Military, The World Bank, Washington, D.C.
2015 -Gays in the Military. The May Gallery at Webster University, Webster Groves, MO
2014-We Skate Hardcore, Musee de la Memoire et Patrimonie, Chamonix, France
2014-Gays in the Military, Daylight Project Space, Hillsborough, NC
2013-We Skate Hardcore, Kolga Tbilisi Festival, Tbilisi, Georgia
-Gays in the Military. iMPeRFeCT Gallery, Philadelphia PA
2012-Collateral Damage: The Human Face of War. Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago, IL
2011-Gays in the Military. Fovea Exhibitions, Beacon, NY
2008-We Skate Hardcore. Verve Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
2006-We Skate Hardcore. Museum of the City of New York
2005-We Skate Hardcore. Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC
-We Skate Hardcore. 7th Internationale Fototage, Mannheim/Ludwigshafen, Germany
-We Skate Hardcore. Robert V. Fullerton Museum, Calif. State University, San Bernardino
2004-We Skate Hardcore. George Eastman House, Rochester, NY
-We Skate Hardcore. Griffin Museum, Winchester, MA
-We Skate Hardcore. Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN
-We Skate Hardcore. Williamsburg Art Nexus, Brooklyn, NY (book launch)
2003-We Skate Hardcore. University of the Arts, Philadelphia
-Landscapes of Desire. Fotofiesta, Medellin, Colombia, Festival of Photography
2001-We Skate Hardcore. Centro Colombo Americano, Medellin, Colombia
RECENT INVITATIONAL AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 -Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library, Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, CA (Anne Wilkes tucker, curator)
-Forget Me Not, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
2017-AIDS at Home: Art and Everyday Activism, Museum of the City of New York, NY
2017-AIDS in the City and at Home, Camp Rehoboth, DE
2016- Eyes on Main Street. Wilson, NC Outdoor Photo Festival
2015 - Eyes on Main Street. Wilson, NC Outdoor Photo Festival
2014- Collateral Damage: The Human Face of War. Safety-Kleen Art Center, Elgin IL
2014-Second Sight: Works from the David Kronn Collection. Irish Museum of Modern Art
2013-The Gender Show, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY
-Naked Spaces: Architecture in Art, The Kinsey Institute Gallery, Indiana University, IN
-The Face of Hope, Hellenic Association for the Study and Control of AIDS, Athens, Greece
2012-City Scenes: New York Street Photography, Museum of the City of New York, NY
-Intra Country:Patriotic Expressions, Gallery Kayafas, Boston, MA
2011- The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the W.M. Hunt Collection, George Eastman House
-Beauty, Humor, Social Justice: Gifts from Joan Morgenstern, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
-30: A Brooklyn Salon Exhibition. BRIC Rotunda Gallery
2009-New York 400: Streetscapes from the Permanent Collections, Museum of the City of NY
-Beyond Beauty: Photographs from the Duke University Special Collections Library, The
Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC
2008-Divas, Robert V. Fullerton Museum, San Bernardino, CA
2006-Contemporary Photo-Essays from the Permanent Collection, LA County Museum of Art
-Summer Vacation: Photographs from the Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA
-The Past Made Present: Contemporary Art and Memory, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
- No Sleep ’til Brooklyn: A powerHouse Hip Hop Retrospective, powerhouse Arena, Brooklyn
2005-New to view: Recent Acquisitions in Photography, Worcester art Museum, Worcester, MA
2004-Open House: A Survey of Brooklyn Artists, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
-Discoveries of the Meeting Place, Fotofest, Houston, TX
-The Human Experience, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL
-Manifestations: Photographs of Men, Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, FL
2003-Locating Intimacy: The (Space) Between, San Francisco Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
2003-"Experience and Exchange: Documentary as the Art of Collaboration", Kent State Univ, OH
-"Boys Of Summer: Photographs Of And About Men", ClampArt, NYC
- "La Virgen Morena", Union Gallery, University of Texas at El Paso
2002-Moments of Clarity, Sotheby's
-Recent Acquisitions, Promised Gifts, and Selected Loans, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art
2000-Photo Forum 2000, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
-New York Now 2000. Museum of the City of New York
-Urban Images from the Permanent Collection. Southeast Museum of Photography
-SNAPSHOT,Contemporary Museum (Baltimore), Aldrich Museum, 2001
1999-Future Present: Photographs of Children from the Reader's Digest Collection. Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
-Remembrance: The Eternal Present. Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
Research Interests
social justice, documentary strategies, analog photography, archives, community activism, community organizing, exhibition design, sustainability, identity, queer identity, criticism and theory,
Awards And Honors
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
David M. Rubenstein Special Collection Library, Duke University; Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro; The Library of Congress; The Kinsey Institute for Sexual Research; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; George Eastman House; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of the City of New York; The International Collection, Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, MA; Harry Ranson Humanities Research Center, Austin, TX; The Brooklyn Museum of Art; Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA; The Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona Beach, Florida; Museet fur Fotokunst, Sweden; Bibliotheque National de France, Paris; The Buhl Collection, NYC; Reader's Digest Collection, Pleasantville, NY; Brooklyn Union Gas, Brooklyn, NY; The Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, NY; Musee Pierre Noel, Saint-Die-des-Vosges, France; James Michener Art Museum, Doylestown, PA; The Midtown Y Photography Gallery Collection, New York, NY; The State University of New York at New Paltz, NY; University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD; Palm Springs Art Museum, FL
GRANTS AND AWARDS
2010 Faculty Fund Award, New School University
2010 The Palm Center
2005 American Association of University Presses, Best Book Design for Trade Publication
2005 No Strings Foundation - nomination
2003 Jerome Foundation Grant (with NYU Press for publication of We Skate Hardcore)
2003 Artist Residency, Brooklyn Cable Access Television and Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn
2003 Nomination, 1st Santa Fe Prize, Santa Fe Center for Visual Arts
2002 Santa Fe Vision Award
2001 Ruttenberg Arts Foundation Award, The Friends of Photography (Arthur Ollman, juror)
2001 Finalist, European Photography Book Award
2001 Faculty Leave Award, Parsons School of Design
2000 Artist-in-Residence, LightWork Residency, Syracuse, NY
1999 Nomination, Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Fall 1999 Double Take feature, The Southside
1997 F. Lammot Belin Arts Scholarship Award, Waverly, PA
Portfolio
http://www.vincentcianni.com/