B E T T Y P R E S S, P H O T O G R A P H E R

EXHIBITION AVAILABLE

Africa in images and proverbs is an exhibition which includes 20-40 black and white images selected from my African work taken all over East and West Africa since 1987. The images of daily life deal with knowledge, cooperation, love, beauty, friendship, hope, humor, sorrow, happiness, gratitude, dance, tradition, faith, peace, war, and human relationships. These are the same themes found in African proverbial language: thus the idea of coupling the images with proverbs. Together they offer a powerful expression of African life and the universality of human emotions, ideas, and knowledge.

The show highlights the importance of proverbs which were used, and are still being used, to instruct members of the African society how to think, how to behave and how to have a better life. This exhibition makes a significant educational and artistic contribution to the appreciation and understanding of African culture and society as well as our own.  

WORK EXPERIENCE

Fall 2003 to present, Adjunct Instructor, Photography, University of Southern Mississippi , Hattiesburg
1996 to 2003- Adjunct Instructor, Photography; Stetson University , Deland , Florida

MAJOR SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• Africa in images and proverbs, University of La Verne , La Verne , California March-April 2005
• Africa in images and proverbs, The New Gallery, University of Miami , Florida Jan-Feb 2005
• Reflections of Africa , Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, Lakewood , Colorado Oct 2004
• Reflections of Africa , Lycoming College , Williamsport , Pennsylvania February 2004
• Covered and Uncovered: Photographs and African masks, Art League, Daytona Beach , Florida August-September 2003
• Reflections of Africa: Photographs from Africa and the Diaspora, Baldwin Photographic Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, March-April 2003
• Travelers’ Tales: World Views, Southeast Museum of Photography , Daytona Beach , Florida October 2000-February 2001
• Lens of the eye – Fabric of the Mind, University Gallery, College of Art , University of Florida , Gainesville , Florida May-July 2000
• “Photographs from Africa ,” African American Museum of the Arts, DeLand , Florida December 1999-January 2000 Reflections of Africa: Photographs from Cuba, Trinidad, and Belize , Harris House of the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida October 1999
• Photographs from Africa , Mount Dora Center for the Arts, Mount Dora , Florida October-November 1999
• One World: Photographs from Mali , Crealdé School of Art , Winter Park , Florida October 1997
• Yearnings: Photographs from Florida, Duncan Gallery of Art, Stetson University, DeLand, Florida June-July 1997
• Mali : Fringe of the Fantastic, FotoFusion, Palm Beach Photographic Society, Delray Beach , Florida January 1997
• The Power of the Spirit: The African Independent Church Movement, French Cultural Centre, Nairobi , Kenya May 1995. It was also exhibited at The African Studies Association Meeting, Orlando , Florida November 1995
• African Moments: Black and White Photographs from East and West Africa , Gallery Watatu, Nairobi , Kenya October 1990. This show traveled to:
  • The Charles Sumner School Museum , Washington , DC March-May 1993
  • Principia College , Elsah , Illinois February 1993
  • The Deland Museum of Art , DeLand , Florida February-April 1992

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS, JURIED COMPETITIONSAND AWARDS

• Global Collection of Photography 2005, Jamestown Community College ’s Weeks Gallery, Jamestown , New York Summer 2005
• Beauty: Camera Eye of the Beholder ,Women in Photography On-line Exhibition, June-September 2005, Honorable Mention
• Mississippi Art Faculty juried exhibition, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel , Mississippi April-May 2005
• Mississippi Art Faculty juried exhibition, Lauren Rogers Museum of Art, Laurel , Mississippi April-May 2005
• Decisive Moments, A Tribute to Henri Cartier-Bresson , Women in Photography On-line Exhibition, January-February 2005, Honorable Mention
• ARTifacts, Midwestern State University , Wichita Falls , Texas Sept-Oct 2004
• Visual Proof, 9 th Annual Photographic Competition Exhibition, Photographic Center Northwest, Seattle , Washington July-August 2004 Honorable Mention Award
• Beggars and Choosers: Motherhood is Not a Class Privilege in America . Moving Walls, Open Society Institute, New York City June 2004
• Covered and Uncovered: Photographs and African masks, Mount Dora Library, Mount Dora , Florida February 2004
• American Vision: An Invitational Exhibition, Elmira College , Elmira , New York January 2004
• A Shared Legacy: Documentary Photography of Florida from the 1930’s and Today. Crealdé School of Art , Winter Park , Florida September-November 2003
• Bold and Beautiful , Florida Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida, October 2002.
• Beggars and Choosers: Motherhood is Not a Class Privilege in America , touring exhibition at several college and university art galleries beginning fall 2002 www.beggarsandchoosers.org
• 100 Universes: An International Accordion Book of Prints, Contemporary Crafts Gallery, Portland , Oregon October – November 2001
• 7 th Biennial Juried Competition in Southeastern Photography, Crealdé School of Art, Winter Park, Florida April-June 2001
• Women in the Visual Arts, Erector Square Gallery, New Haven CT March 2000
• The Members Biennial, A Juried Visual Arts Exhibition , Deland Museum of Art, Deland, Florida December 1999 and September 2001
• Audrey Hepburn a woman, the style, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo Florence, Italy May 1999
• Stetson Faculty Art Exhibition, Stetson University , Deland , Florida 1998, 2001, 2003
• Florida Biennial III, Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Belleair , Florida October 1998
• Transitions, Women in Photojournalism Exhibition, NPPA; Denver April 1997
• Finalist in Ernst Haas Awards competition, Maine Photographic Workshops 1995
• "Book of Days," Weekly Calendar published by Danny N. Schweers 1995
• Rencontres de la Photographie Africaine, Bamako , Mali December 1994
• Nominated by UNICEF for the Harry Chapin Media Awards, New York City 1994
• UNICEF Exhibitions of UNICEF activities, New York City 1993,94
• Kenya Arts Festival , Kenya Museum Society, Nairobi 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995
• Women in Photography Celebrate Freedom, Photography Center , Los Angeles Feb 1992

 

PHOTOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE

• 1987 - July 1995 Photojournalist (Based in Nairobi , Kenya covering East and West Africa )
• Primary assignments for The Christian Science Monitor
• Other major assignments for UNICEF, UNHCR, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Reports, The New York Times, Africa Report, African Farmer, BBC Books.
• My photos have appeared in many leading magazines and newspapers including Life, Newsweek, Time, National Geographic, Audubon, World Monitor, Smithsonian, Ms, The Atlantic Monthly, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times . They have also been used by educational textbooks, encyclopedias and development agencies such as Catholic Relief Services, Pathfinder, Mary Knoll, The Episcopal Church, Trickle Up Program and Oxfam.
• Special Assignments for UNICEF. Covered Audrey Hepburn’s goodwill ambassador’s trip to Somalia , 1992 (these photographs have appeared in numerous books and magazines) and Harry Belafonte’s trip to Rwanda in 1994.

 

EDUCATION

• BA in Education: Nebraska Wesleyan University Lincoln , Nebraska
• Certificate: Data Processing: Dekalb Community College Atlanta , Georgia
• Photography courses: University of Michigan Art School Ann Arbor , Michigan

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Audrey Hepburn, an elegant spirit: a son remembers by Sean Hepburn Ferrer. Atria Books. 2003
• The New Africa : Dispatches from a Changing Continent by Robert M. Press/ Photographs by Betty Press, University of Florida Press 1999 More than 100 photographs. The Best from the University Presses - 2000 Book Award:
• A Global Affair: An Inside Look at the United Nations , Jones & Janello 1995 Photos used on front and back cover, also inside.
• Clive Anderson: Our Man in..., BBC Books. Anderson ’s visit to Masai Mara , Kenya . 1995
• Somalia : Missed Opportunities , US Institute of Peace Press, 1994. Cover photo.

 

SELECTED COLLECTIONS and COMMISSIONS

• Baldwin Photographic Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University , Murfreesboro , Tennessee
• Permanent Collection of The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington , DC
• Peter Palmquist collection of Women in Photography
• The Harry Ransom Center for the Humanities, The University of Texas , Austin
• Jamestown Community College , Jamestown , New York
• Public Art Commission, Volusia County Courthouse , Florida
• Public Art Commission, Florida Department of Transportation, Deland , Florida
• Southeast Museum of Photography , Daytona Beach , Florida
• Stetson University , Deland , Florida
• Maitland Art Center , Maitland , Florida
• Halifax Foundation, Port Orange , Florida
• Numerous private collections

 

 REPRESENTATION

• Woodfin Camp & Associates, New York (212) 481-6900, woodfin@pipeline.com
• Panos Pictures, London , UK 44 (207) 234 0010, pics@panos.co.uk
• Photographic Image Gallery, Portland , Oregon , 603 224 3543, staff@photographicimage.com
• RAMOMA, Rahimatulla African Museum of Modern Art, Nairobi , Kenya
• ArtSeen, Bethesda , Maryland 301 229 2664 June@ArtSeenInc.com
• International Visions Gallery , Washington , DC www.inter-visions.com

REFERENCES

• Ellen Tolmie, Photo Editor, UNICEF, New York (212) 326 7281, etolmie@unicef.org
• Dr. Roberta Favis, Art Historian, Stetson University Art Department., DeLand , Florida (386) 822 7266 or rfavis@stetson.edu
• Eric Breitenbach, Photographer, Daytona Beach Community College, Box 2811, Daytona Beach, Florida 32120 386 255 8131
• Dr. Alison Nordström, Curator of Photography, George Eastman House/International Museum of Photography, Rochester , New York , anordstrom@geh.or