Professor of Studio Art – Photography
With Pitzer Since: 2013
Phone: 909.607.4157
Website:
Educational Background:
Tarrah Krajnak was born in Lima, Peru in 1979. She received her MFA from the University of Notre Dame. She has exhibited nationally and internationally at: Art13 London, Art Basel Miami, The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Center for Photography Woodstock, San Francisco Camerawork, Newspace Center for Photography, Columbus Museum of Art, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, Printed Matter’s LA/NYC Art Book Fair, and metropcs gallery in LA among others. She is represented by Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books, which published her first book South Sound in 2013. She has received grants from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Vermont Council for the Arts, The Vermont Community Foundation, and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. Her work has appeared in both print and online magazines including Nueva Luz, Camerawork, F-Stop Magazine, and Killing the Buddha. Krajnak is currently an Assistant Professor of Photography at Pitzer College. She taught previously at Cornell University and the University of Vermont.
Teaching Philosophy
As an artist and educator I consider artistic production from a broad cultural, social, and historical context and I am committed to teaching from an interdisciplinary approach where content and ideas dictate process and form. I aim to open up a dialogue amongst my students and expose the conceptual possibilities of the medium by pointing to the poetic and subjective nature of the photograph. At every level, from beginning to advanced, I challenge my students to consider art and studio practice from a global perspective– not only in terms of exposure to diverse historical and critical viewpoints, but to the presence of the art market itself and the shift of that market to a global one. I strive to create a fresh experience for my students where projects and lectures are current and organic as they grow out of my studio practice, research, and travel. I am interested in dissecting contemporary conceptual themes and in posing related problems to my students as both individual and collaborative projects. Finally, I strive to create an educational environment where my students, above all, become self-sufficient problem solvers who can think creatively to express ideas, set goals, and most importantly take risks.
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