Leo Rubinfien (born 1953, Chicago, Illinois) is an American photographer and essayist. He lives and works in New York City.
Biography and career
Rubinfien first came to prominence as part of the circle of artist-photographers who investigated new color techniques and materials in the 1970s. His first one-person exhibition was held at Castelli Graphics, New York, in 1981 and he has since had solo exhibitions at institutions that include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Yale University Art Gallery and the Museum of Contemporary Art Rome. Among his principal bodies of work are A Map of The East, (published by David R. Godine and Thames & Hudson), which explores the character and idiosyncrasies of Japan, China and Southeast Asia; and Wounded Cities (published as a book by Steidl in 2008), which explores the “mental wounds” that were left by the terror attacks in New York in 2001, and other attacks in cities around the world. He is the author of three books of photographs, A Map of the East (Godine, Thames & Hudson, Toshi Shuppan, 1992), Wounded Cities (Steidl, 2008) and The Ardbeg (Kurenboh/Taka Ishii 2010).

Rubinfien is also an active writer, who has published numerous extended essays on major photographers of the 20th century. He has contributed a memoir, Colors of Daylight to Starburst: Color Photography in America, 1970-1980 (Kevin Moore, Cincinnati Art Museum / Hatje Caantz 2010) and produced the long personal and historical essay in Wounded Citi es, which recounts the attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the years that followed. In 2001-2004, he served as Guest Co-curator of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s retrospective of the work of Shomei Tomatsu and is co-author of Shomei Tomatsu / Skin of the Nation (Yale University Press, 2004). Since 2010, he has been serving as Guest Curator of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s retrospective of the work of Garry Winogrand, which will appear at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Jeu de Paume, Paris, in 2014.

Rubinfien’s work has been acquired for numerous public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Seattle Art Museum, the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Bibliotheque Nationale, the Yale University Art Gallery, the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Israel Museum and the Center for Creative Photography of the University of Arizona. He has held fellowships with the Guggenheim Foundation, Japan Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, and the International Center for Advanced Studies at New York University, and in 2009 was awarded the Gold Prize at the 5th Lianzhou International Photography Festival.
In 2015-16, exhibitions by Rubinfien are being held at the Steven Kasher Gallery, New York, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Bibliotheque Nationale, ParisCenter for Creative Photography, TucsonCincinnati Art MuseumCleveland Museum of ArtColby CollegeCooley Art Gallery, Reed College, Portland, OregonCorcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DCDavison Art Center, Wesleyan UniversityFogg Museum of Art, Harvard UniversityIsrael Museum, JerusalemThe Jewish Museum, New YorkKrannert Art Museum, Univ. of Illinois, Champaign, Ill.Metropolitan Museum of Art, New YorkMinneapolis Institute of ArtMuseum of Fine Arts, HoustonMuseum of Modern Art, New YorkNational Museum of Modern Art, TokyoRhode Island School of DesignSan Francisco Museum of Modern ArtSeattle Art MuseumStanford University Art MuseumSmart Museum of Art, University of ChicagoTokyo Metropolitan Museum of PhotographyTsukuba Museum of Photography, JapanUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst, Art MuseumWhitney Museum of American ArtYale University Art GalleryExhibitions and publications
Selected solo exhibitions:
2015, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York2014, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo2013, Steven Kasher Gallery, New York2013, MACRO, Museo di Arte Contemporanea, Rome2011, Art Academy of Cincinnati2011, Yale University Art Gallery2011, National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo2011, Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA2010, Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo2010, Kurenboh, Tokyo2009, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA2008, Robert Mann Gallery, New York2008, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.2001, Robert Mann Gallery, New York1995, Artists' Loft & Gallery, Galveston, Texas1994, Robert Mann Gallery, New York1994, Cleveland Museum of Art1994, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington1993, Seibu Art Forum, Sezon Museum, Tokyo1993, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York1987, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco1984, Philadelphia College of Art1982, Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco1981, Castelli Uptown Gallery, New YorkSelected group exhibitions:
2015, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC2010, Starburst: Color Photography in America, 1970-1980, Cincinnati Museum of Art,2010, Packer Collegiate Institute2010, Princeton University Art Museum2007, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography2005, Art & Recovery Conference / Exhibition, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at Borough of Manhattan2005, Edward Thorp Gallery, New York2005, Gulbenkian Cultural Center, Paris2005, Gallery Chiado 8, Lison2003, Defying Gravity, North Carolina Museum of Art2003, Gallery Amelia, Tokyo2003, Eugenio de Almeida Foundation, Evora, Portugal2002, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography2001, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Photography Study Center)2000, Picturing Media, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York2000, A Prova de Agua, Belem Cultural Center, LisbonRubinfien, Leo. New Turns in Old Roads. Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo, 2014Rubinfien, Leo; 2011. Kizu Tsuita no Machi ("Wounded Cities"). National Museum of Modern Art, TokyoRubinfien, Leo, 2013. Garry Winogrand (Editor and Author) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Yale University Press.Rubinfien, Leo; 2011. Paths through the Global City. Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University.Rubinfien, Leo; 2010. The Ardbeg. Taka Ishii Gallery and KURENBOH.Moore, Kevin (Author), Crump, James (Contributor), Rubinfien, Leo (Contributor); 2010. Starburst: Color Photography in America 1970-1980. Hatje Cantz. ISBN 978-3775724906Rubinfien, Leo; 2009. "One more Trip through 'The Americans'." Art in America, May 2009.Rubinfien, Leo. Wounded Cities. Gottingen, Germany: Steidl, 2008ISBN 978-3-86521-676-2Rubinfien, Leo; 2005. "Where Diane Arbus Went". Art in America, October 2005.Rubinfien, Leo (Author), Phillips, Sandra S. (Author), Dower, John (Author), Tomatsu, Shomei (Author); 2004. Shomei Tomatsu: Skin of the Nation. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300106046Rubinfien, Leo; 2004. "The Mask Behind the Face". Art in America, June 2004.Rubinfien, Leo; 2002. "Perfect Uncertainty". Art in America, March 2002.Rubinfien, Leo; 2000. "The Poetry of Plain Seeing". Art in America, December, 2000.Rubinfien, Leo; 1999. "Investigations of a Dog". Art in America, October 1999.Rubinfien, Leo; 1994. 10 Takeoffs 5 Landings. Robert Mann Gallery. ASIN: B0006PBJ0YRubinfien, Leo. A Map of the East. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1992 Thames & Hudson, Toshi Shuppan. ISBN 0879239433Page at EyecuriousPage at The GuardianPage at 5B4Page at Book ForumPage at New York TimesPage at New York TimesPage at Washington PostPage at New York Books