ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES - SHEILA METZNER

Shiela Metzner was born in Brooklyn in 1939. She attended Pratt Institute where she majored in Visual Communications.

On the birth of her first child she quit her job as an art director and dedicated herself to her family and photography. For seven years they spent winters in the city and summers in the country, playing, reading, swimming, gardening, baking, living; years which produced the most precious and intimate work. One of these photographs was included in a famous and controversial exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art - ‘Mirrors and Windows: American Photography since 1960 ’- and became the dark horse hit of the exhibition. Gallery shows and commercial clients soon followed.

Her five children have been and remain a constant source of inspiration. As they grow and grandchildren arrive, her work has evolved – “It is their inner life which captivates and inspires me beyond anything else.”

Sheila Metzner’s photographs are featured in many private and museum collections – notably The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The International Centre of Photography. She has published four monographs: ‘Objects of Desire,’ ‘Shiela Metzner’s Colour,’ ‘Inherit the Earth,’ and ‘Form and Fashion.’

Her unique photographic style has positioned her as a contemporary master in the worlds of fine art, fashion, portraiture, still life and landscape photography.