Jen Davis
(Akron, Ohio, 1978 - )
North America, American
For over a decade, Davis has documented her personal experiences with body image and intimate moments of self-exploration in a series of self-portraits. The emotive scenes presented in her photographs are highly personal, but also relate to broader issues of the public gaze, sexuality, social isolation and human vulnerability.
Davis received her BFA from Columbia College Chicago in 2002 and her MFA from Yale University in 2008. In 2002 she began her on-going series of self-portraits, for which she is best known. Having examined her own body and the effects of her weight on her emotional and physical health through her photographs, Davis chose to undergo Lap Band surgery around late 2010/early 2011, causing her to lose a substantial amount of weight. She continues to use herself as a subject and also photographs others in her investigative portraiture. Other series by the artist include 'I Ask in Exchange', in which unknown men are subjects, and Webcam, in which diptych images trace the progression of an imagined relationship.
In 2011, Davis spoke at the Akron Art Museum as part of the Bidwell Lecture Series. Her photographs are in public collections across the country and have been shown in exhibitions internationally.
Lives Brooklyn, New York
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