TARA
WRAY

Tara Wray is an artist who makes autobiographical work inspired by everyday life, with a broader interest in the issues of family, mental health, and humor. She works across photography, painting, documentary filmmaking, and writing. She lives off-grid in rural Vermont with her filmmaker husband, their identical twin sons, and a dog named Hula. 

tara@tarawray.net

EDUCATION

  • BA, New York University, 2004 
  • University of Joensuu, Finland, 1999 
  • Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, 1996 

PHOTOBOOKS

  • Book of Sons, Lecturis Press, 2023
  • Too Tired Project Anthology, Vol 1. Too Tired Press, Woodstock, VT, 2021 (co-editor)
  • Year of the Beast, Too Tired Press, Woodstock, VT, 2021
  • El Dorado Freddy’s, Belt Publishing, Cleveland, OH, 2020
  • Too Tired for Sunshine, Yoffy Press, Atlanta, GA, 2018
  • Come Again When You Can’t Stay So Long, self-published, Barnard, VT, 2014
  • Each One Wonderful, self-published, Barnard, VT, 2013
  • Barnard People, self-published, Barnard, VT, 2012

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • Book of Sons, Ava Gallery (West Lebanon, NH) 2022
  • Too Tired for Sunshine, Christel DeHaan Fine Art Center (Indianapolis, IN) 2019
  • Too Tired for Sunshine, Brush Art Gallery (Canton, NY) 2019

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • Pablo's Birthday 21st Birthday Exhibition (New York, NY) 2023
  • Nothing to Look Forward To But The Past, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts (Galway, Ireland) 2020 
  • #TooTiredWarsaw, Leica Gallery, sponsored by US Embassy, (Warsaw, Poland) 2019
  • #TooTiredBoston, School of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA) 2019 
  • #TooTiredIndy, U of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN) 2019 
  • #TooTiredVermont, VT Center for Photography (Brattleboro, VT) 2019 
  • #TooTiredMelbourne, Noir Darkroom (Melbourne, Australia) 2019
  • #TooTiredChicago, LATITUDE (Chicago, IL) 2019 
  • #TooTiredCanton, St. Lawrence University (Canton, NY) 2019
  • #TooTiredSantaFe, in conjunction with Review Santa Fe (NM) 2018
  • Here + Now, Pablo’s Birthday & OFFICE IMPART (New York, NY) 2019
  • Art on a Postcard, Photo London (London, UK) 2019
  • Museum Hundertwasser, KUNST HAUS WIEN (Vienna, Austria) 2019 
  • treat america project, FOLEY GALLERY (New York, NY) 2019
  • treat america project, OSNY PROJECT SPACE (New York, NY) 2019
  • Humble Cats, Photoville (New York, NY) 2018
  • Summer Exhibition, Duncan Miller Gallery (Santa Monica, CA) 2018 
  • 2018 Open Exhibition, Vermont Center for Photography (Brattleboro, VT) 2018  
  • Context 2018, Filter Photo (Chicago, IL) 2018 
  • Flora 2018, Rankin Arts Photography Center (Columbus, GA) 2018
  • Click Bait, The Front Gallery, PhotoNOLA (New Orleans, LA) 2017
  • Printed Matter, MoMA PS1, New York Art Book Fair (Queens, NY) 2017 
  • Blue Library Vol 2: Conversations, 500X Gallery (Dallas, TX) 2017
  • Blue Library Vol 2., Antenna Works Gallery (New Orleans, LA) 2016
  • One Place or Another, Oranbeg Press, Aviary Gallery (Jamaica Plain, MA) 2014
  • Holiday Book Bazaar, with Oranbeg Press, Aperture Gallery (New York, NY) 2013
  • All Visual Boston Slideshow, Spectacle Gallery (Jamaica Plain, MA) 2013
  • Double Vision, with Chris Lusher, Blank Gallery (Huntington, WV) 2012

COMMISSIONED PHOTOGRAPHY 

  • National Geographic 
  • Bloomberg
  • Wall Street Journal
  • NPR
  • Sierra Magazine
  • Bloomberg Businessweek
  • Valley News
  • Vermont Standard
  • Boston Globe

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Washington Post
  • DP Review
  • Buzzfeed
  • NPR
  • Vogue Polska
  • VICE
  • Huff Post
  • BUST Magazine
  • GUP Magazine
  • La Presse
  • Lenscratch
  • Burn Magazine
  • PHOTONEWS
  • Monopol-Magazin 
  • Deutschlandfunk Kultur 

COLLECTIONS 

  • Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, TX
  • George Eastman Museum Library, Rochester, NY 
  • Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University, New Haven, CT 
  • Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 
  • Dartmouth College Book Arts Workshop, Hanover, NH 
  • Antenna Gallery Reading Room Archive, New Orleans, LA

COLLABORATIVE PROJECT

Founder, Too Tired Project, an arts initiative advancing mental health advocacy through the use of photography, 2018-2023.

CURATION FOR TOO TIRED PROJECT

  • #TooTiredBoston (School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA) 
  • #TooTiredWarsaw, Leica Gallery, sponsored by US Embassy, (Warsaw, Poland) 2019
  • #TooTiredBoston, School of the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA) 2019 
  • #TooTiredIndy, U of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN) 2019 
  • #TooTiredVermont, VT Center for Photography (Brattleboro, VT) 2019 
  • #TooTiredMelbourne, Noir Darkroom (Melbourne, Australia) 2019
  • #TooTiredChicago, LATITUDE (Chicago, IL) 2019 
  • #TooTiredCanton, St. Lawrence University (Canton, NY) 2019
  • #TooTiredSantaFe, in conjunction with Review Santa Fe (NM) 2018

WRITING ON PHOTOGRAPHY

  • “Photographer Aline Smithson Makes The Familiar Look Beautiful And Bizarre: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, May 4, 2018
  • “Dreamy Photos of a Chinese Swimming Club on the North Korean Border,” VICE, February 19, 2018
  • “Some Days Just Are: Zora J Murff & Rana Young,” HuffPost, January 11, 2018
  • “Stunning Photos of Small-Town Pennsylvania,” VICE, December 20, 2017
  • “Some Days Just Are: Meron Menghistab & Aline Smithson November 21, 2017
  • “Some Days Just Are: Mark Caceres & Darin Mickey,” HuffPost, November 8, 2017
  • “Dreamlike Photos of Small-Town Life in South Florida,” VICE, October 5, 2017
  • “Striking Photos That Turn Everyday Life into an Elaborate Ballet,” VICE, October 2, 2017
  • “Some Days Just Are: Frank Blazquez and Matthew J. Brown,” HuffPost, September 7, 2017
  • “Some Days Just Are: Lance Cozzens and Sara J. Winston,” HuffPost, August 21, 2017
  • “These Photos Capture the Power of Political Resistance,” VICE, August 10, 2017
  • “Some Days Just Are: Michael Northrup and Akasha Rabut,” HuffPost, August 1, 2017
  • “Photos of Aggression and American Masculinity,” VICE, July 31, 2017
  • “Photographer Vivian Fu Explores Race, Gender, Sexuality—And Food: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, May 15, 2017
  • “These Photos Capture American Life on the Fringe,” VICE, May 1, 2017
  • “These Photos Find Humor in the Banality of Everyday Life,” VICE, April 21, 2017
  • “Photographer Jackie Dives Tells Stories That Need To Be Told: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, March 28, 2017
  • “Photographer Melissa Bunni Elian Explores Different Avenues Of Blackness: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, January 3, 2017
  • “Michelle Groskopf Is An Out And Proud Queer Street Photographer: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, November 30, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Matt Eich,” HuffPost, November 22, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Vivienne Maricevic,” HuffPost, September 29, 2016
  • “Photographer Amy Touchette Captures The Inner Lives Of Teenagers: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, September 9, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Sian Davey,” HuffPost, August 9, 2016
  • “Christine Osinski’s Photographs Show 1980s New York In A New Way: Lady Shooters,” BUST Magazine, August 1, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Ed Panar,” HuffPost, June 21, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Flo Fox,” HuffPost, May 19, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Chris Verene,” HuffPost, May 10, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Arlene Gottfried,” HuffPost, April 25, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Stacy Kranitz,” Huff Post, April 13, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Zora J Murff,” HuffPost, April 6, 2016
  • “Doin’ Work: Susan Lipper,” HuffPost, March 25, 2016
  • “A Visit With Photographer Rosalind Fox Solomon, Seeker Of The Bizarre And The Beautiful,” HuffPost, February 29, 2016

DOCUMENTARY FILMS 

CARTOON COLLEGE, 2012

Distribution by Gunpowder & Sky, New York, NY

SELECTED SCREENINGS 

  • Expozine (Montreal, Quebec) 2013 
  • San Francisco Documentary Festival (San Francisco, CA ) 2013
  • Glasgow Film Festival (Glasgow, Scotland) 2013
  • Cartoon Art Museum (San Francisco, CA) 2013
  • Columbia University (New York, NY) 2013
  • Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH) 2013
  • BilBOlBul International Comics Festival (Bologna, Italy) 2013
  • Resene Art & Design Film Festival (Wellington, New Zealand) 2013
  • Bangkok Design Festival (Bangkok, Thailand ) 2013
  • Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville, NY) 2012
  • Denver Film Society (Denver, CO) 2012
  • SPACE Gallery (Maine College of Art, Portland, ME) 2012 
  • Vancouver International Film Festival (Vancouver, BC) 2012
  • Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL) 2012 
  • Orange County Museum of Art (Orange County, CA) 2012
  • Museum of Design (Atlanta, GA) 2012
  • Palm Beach International Film Festival (Palm Beach, FL) 2012
  • Newport Beach Film Festival (Newport Beach, CA) 2012 

MANHATTAN, KANSAS, 2006

Distribution by Documentary Educational Resources, Watertown, MA

SELECTED SCREENINGS 

  • The Documentary Channel (2009-2012)
  • Colorado Public Television, KBDI-TV/12 (Denver, Colorado) 2010
  • Oktostop Austrian Television (Vienna, Austria) 2008 
  • Docúpolis International Documentary Film Festival (Barcelona, Spain) 2008
  • Kansas Public Television, KPTS 8 (Wichita, KS) 2008
  • Regular Company Films Screening Series (Zagreb, Croatia) 2007
  • Biografilm Festival (Bologna, Italy) 2007 
  • India International Women’s Film Festival (New Delhi, India) 2007 
  • Jackson Hole Film Festival (Jackson Hole, WY) 2007 
  • Wisconsin Film Festival (Madison, WI) 2007 
  • Maine International Film Festival (Waterville, ME) 2007 
  • San Francisco Independent Film Festival (San Francisco, CA) 2007
  • Fine Arts Theater (Asheville, NC) 2006 
  • Sweet Briar College (Sweet Briar, VA) 2006
  • Clemson University (Clemson, SC) 2006
  • Nickelodeon Theater (Columbia, SC) 2006
  • Walter Reade Theater, Lincoln Center (New York, NY) 2006
  • SXSW Film Festival (Austin, TX) 2006

FILMMAKING GRANTS

  • Chicken & Egg Pictures, 2009
  • LEF Foundation, 2008
  • NYSCA Distribution Grant for New York State Artists, 2008
  • Best Film, Brooklyn Arts Council 41st Int’l Film & Video Festival, Brooklyn, NY, 2008
  • Audience Award, SXSW Film Festival, 2006
  • Opening Night Gala Selection, Tallgrass Film Festival, 2006
  • Jerome Foundation New York City Media Arts Production Grant, 2005
  • IFP Market Selection, Documentary Work-in-Progress, 2005
  • Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers Public Television Mentorship Sessions, 2005
  • Anthony Radziwill Documentary Fund Production Grant, 2005

SELECTED PUBLISHED FICTION

  • “On the Floor and in the Middle of Everything,” Black Warrior Review, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (Pushcart Prize nomination) 2004
  • “Stories Three,” Gulf Coast, Houston, TX (Pushcart Prize nomination) 2003
  • “Billy Blue Face,” New Orleans Review (Loyola University, New Orleans, LA) 2003
  • “Flatbed, Seabed,” Pindeldyboz, New York, NY (Notable Selection, Best American Nonrequired Reading, edited by Dave Eggers) 2003
  • “The Plant Story,” Land-Grant College Review, New York, NY (Pushcart Prize nomination) 2003
  • “A Sometimes Never Mother,” Fiction, City College of New York  2002
  • “Anyway, Thank You for Asking,” Sycamore Review (Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN) 2002
  • Mini Tremble Fits, Chapbook, 2000; second printing, 2001




—Drawing by Jason Polan

Using Format