Elise Kirk
School of Architecture & Design - DesignRoom 205A
Elise Kirk is a photographic artist, visual storyteller and Assistant Professor of Photo Media. She completed her MFA in photography at Rhode Island School of Design (’15), investigated representations of the family in Spanish cinema on a Fulbright grant in Madrid (’01), and studied documentary film at Columbia College Chicago (BA ’00). Her current research explores regional identity, mythologies of place and liminal states in her native Midwest, with her photographic work exhibiting nationally including at ClampArt in New York, the Center for Fine Art Photography in Fort Collins, the Photographic Center Northwest in Seattle, and in numerous on-line and print publications. In 2016 her work was selected by NY Times staff photographer and Lens Blog editor James Estrin for the Photography Now exhibition at the Center for Photography at Woodstock. In addition to still imagery, Elise holds a 15-year career in nonfiction and documentary television as a producer and writer on programs for National Geographic, Discovery and Viceland.
Education
MFA, Photography, Rhode Island School of Design
BA, Film and Video, Documentary Concentration, Columbia College Chicago
Teaching Interests
- View camera
- Light
- Moving image
- Professional practices
Research Interests
- Mythologies of place
- The Midwest
- Signifying landscapes
- Regional identity
- Liminal states
- Familial relations (inherited & constructed)
- The impermanence of all of the above
Selected Awards & Honors
Fulbright Grant for Cinema Studies Research, Madrid, Spain
U.S. Department of State
2000 - 2001