Catherine Opie

(b. 1961)

Catherine Opie makes photographs that probe the boundaries between personal identity and collective belonging, between private and public space. Her works often explore communal experiences of culture, history, and citizenship. Produced in the 1990s, the series Being and Having explored queer subcultures of Los Angeles. More recently, Opie produced photographs documenting President Obama’s first inauguration ceremony. Opie’s photographs of Chicago architecture were part of the 2006 MCA Chicago exhibition Catherine Opie: Chicago (American Cities), and her series of images of Lake Michigan across the seasons hung in the Obama White House.