Tara Wray is an artist who makes work informed by everyday life. She lives off-grid in rural Vermont with her filmmaker husband, their identical twin sons, and a dog named Hula.
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