about
Based in metro Detroit, for the past 25 years my work has explored issues of identity, representation and perception in relation to the photographic image, and its unique power to persuade and negotiate what we believe to be real or true. I received my BFA in printmaking from Washington University in St. Louis, MFA in photography from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor as well as an MA in art history with additional studies in filmmaking from the University of Iowa. My photographs and videos have been exhibited in the US and abroad, including the 2011 survey exhibition, Cynthia Greig: Subverting the (un)Conventional, presented at Oakland University and accompanied by a 70-page illustrated catalogue. I've taught photography as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan, and presented papers and artist talks at conferences, museums and universities. Public collections include the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, George Eastman House, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Smith College Museum of Art, Light Work among others.
While I was a grad student living in Iowa, I began collecting vintage photos from flea markets and rural antique shops, a passion which led me to making my own photographs. Soon after I began researching the life of a real 19th century Midwestern female photographer, Lucretia Gillett, whose life laid the initial groundwork for my invention of Isabelle Raymond, the fictional nineteenth-century cross-dressing photographer and central character in my photo-installation New Eden: The Life and Work of Isabelle Raymond. Fictional Isabelle inspired the initial research for the book I co-authored with Cate Smith, Women in Pants: Manly Maidens, Cowgirls and Other Renegades (Harry N. Abrams, 2003). The book of vintage photographs chronicles the remarkable history of the countless women who defied convention both in dress and lifestyle, daring to wear trousers long before it became an accepted fashion choice. I also curated the exhibition, For the Record: Andy Warhol's Polaroids and Snapshots, 1974-1986 for Mott Community College in Flint, MI in October 2011. For more images and information: www.cynthiagreig.com
