Chris Verene

Guggenheim Fellow in Photography 2021-2022

Chris Verene earned his M.F.A. in Photography from Georgia State University in 1996.  Prior to coming to CSI, Verene directed the photography program at SUNY Westchester Community College and was on faculty at the Photography, Video and Related Media MFA program at the School of Visual Arts. Verene has been called a natural storyteller, focusing on the whole intimate truth of human narratives. In 1986, at age sixteen, Chris Verene began photographing his family's hometown of Galesburg, Illinois, and has since documented the lives of its people through a factual yet sympathetic lens for thirty years in a project called, "Family." Twin Palms Publishers have released two major books of the "Family" photographs, in 2000 and in 2010. In 2009, Verene began video recording the same characters.  Of these videos, called "Home Movies," the New York Times wrote, “Made with low-budget cameras, it’s a riveting, sad and sometimes comical series of short, documentary portraits of poor, white working-class people getting by…”  Today, Verene’s documentary photographs are represented in many major museum collections including The Whitney, The Met, The Jewish Museum, The Walker Art Center, The LA MOCA, The SF MoMA.  Though "Home Movies" is unreleased, seven short films that form the foundation of this project were screened in gallery and museum settings in 2015, and are now in the permanent collection of The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  Verene has been profiled in major publications such as Vanity Fair, Vogue L'Hommes, Huffington Post, The New Yorker, Art In America, Art Forum, and The New York Times.  Verene is also an accomplished musician, recording or touring with artists such as The Rock*A*Teens, The Indigo Girls, and Ani Cordero.  Verene also works under the pseudonym Cheri Nevers, a performative alter-ego who takes glamorous photographs of ordinary people as part of a “Self-Esteem Salon.” Verene created the persona, which involves dressing in drag, with the intention of making people look fantastic, feel beautiful and empowered.