UPCOMING EXHIBITION

2026
Humanity – About You, Galerie der Künstler*innen des BBK München und Oberbayern, Munich, Germany
Curated by Celeste Schuler. Catalogue publication
October 20–November 20, 2026

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025–2026
C. Rose Smith: A Silent Rage, Kniznik Gallery, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Curated by Olivia Baldwin

2024
C. Rose Smith: Talking Back to Power, Autograph, London, United Kingdom
Curated by Bindi Vora

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2026
Global Visions: FotoFest at 40, FotoFest Biennial, Sawyer Yards Galleries, Houston, TX
Curated by Annick Dekiouk. Catalogue publication

2025–2026
Arnold Newman Prize 2025, Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA
Curated by Crista Dix

2025
Tender Visions of the Here and Now, University of Memphis Art Museum, Memphis, TN
Curated by Deepanjan Mukhopadhyay

2024
Reclaiming Hope: Afrofuturist Vision, Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe, AZ
Curated by Granville Carroll

Four Womxn: New Musings on Blackness, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Curated by theo tyson

Critical Geography, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, TX
Curated by Steven Evans. Catalogue publication

2023
Mirror of Self, Hangar Arts Center, PhotoBrussels, Brussels, Belgium
Curated by Delphine Dumont. Catalogue publication

2022
Ten by Ten, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, TX
Curated by Annick Dekiouk and Max Fields. Catalogue publication

Threads Bare, Blue Star Contemporary, San Antonio, TX
Curated by Jacqueline McGilvray and Mary Heathcott

AWARDS / GRANTS

2026
Second Prize, BLANK ART FOUNDATION Photo Award, Munich, Germany

2025
Arnold Newman Prize for New Directions in Photographic Portraiture, Maine Media, Rockport, ME
ArtsMemphis Grant, Memphis, TN

2023
Prix Picto de la Photographie de Mode, Finalist, Picto Foundation, Paris, France
Coup de Cœur Leica Prize, PhotoBrussels, Brussels, Belgium

2022
Inaugural Silver List of Emerging Photographers, Silver Eye Center for Photography, Pittsburgh, PA

2021
Inaugural John Herrin Memorial Scholarship, FotoFest, Houston, TX

FELLOWSHIPS / RESIDENCIES

2027
Artist-in-Residence, Light Work, Syracuse, NY

2024–2025
Visiting Artist Scholar, Women’s Studies Research Center, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Developed C. Rose Smith: A Silent Rage; presented gallery talks for university classes and led a talk and guided tour for staff of the Rose Art Museum.

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

2023–Present
Assistant Curator of Photography, Memphis Art Museum, Memphis, TN
Develop exhibitions and research projects centered on photography, visual culture, archives, and Black photographic history. Conduct archival research and collaborate with artists, scholars, educators, and institutional partners on exhibitions, interpretation, and public programming.

Selected Project:
Making Beauty: Hooks Brothers Studio, 1907-1984, December 6, 2026–July 5, 2027
Curator of a major survey exhibition and publication, drawn from the Hooks Brothers Studio archive of approximately 100,000 photographs documenting Black life, culture, and community in Memphis and its tri-state region. Conducting archival and historical research, image selection, and exhibition development around the studio’s photographic legacy.

COLLECTIONS

Wedge Collection, Toronto, Canada
David C. Howse Collection, San Francisco, CA

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS / PRESS

Forthcoming, September 2027
Mussai, Renee. Eyes That Commit: Black Woman and Non-Binary Photographers: A Visual Survey. Prestel.

2025
Smithson, Aline. “Arnold Newman Prize: C. Rose Smith: Scenes of Self: Redressing Patriarchy.” Lenscratch.
Belmont, JM. “The Quiet that Burns.” Art Scope Magazine.

2024
“This Season’s Biggest UK Photography Shows.” Aesthetica.
Nayar, Varun. “A Biennial in Houston Explores the Politics of Visibility.” Aperture.

2022
Embser, Brendan. “At a Photography Festival in Houston, History Confronts the Present.” Aperture.
Garland, Aaron. “Graduate Student Connects with Rochester’s Famed Photo History.” College of Art and Design.
Harris, Brandon Tho. “FotoFest Biennial 2022: Ten by Ten.” FotoFest.
Walton, Asmaa. “New at Blue Star Contemporary: Spring Exhibitions ‘Threads Bare’ and the ‘Black Art Library.’” Art Daily.

LECTURES / PANELS / ARTIST TALKS

2026
Panel, “The Black Built Environment,” Black Portraiture[s] Conference, Los Angeles, CA, September 28.
Artist Talk, Arnold Newman Prize Alumni, Maine Media, February 18, online.

2025
Artist Talk, C. Rose Smith: A Silent Rage, Kniznick Gallery, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, November 5.
Lecture, “Scenes of Self: Redressing Patriarchy,” University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, February 13.

2024
Panel, Four Womxn: New Musings on Blackness, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, November 1.
Panel, “Deconstructing the Legacy of the Cotton Industry,” Autograph, London, UK, October 2, online.
Panel and Performance, “Reclaiming History: Power and Visibility,” Autograph, London, UK, June 14.

2023
Panel, “The Queer Lens: Photographers in Conversation,” Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, June 15.

2022
Lecture, “Photography and the Self Portrait,” Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, October 25.
Lecture, “Black Figure in Pop Culture,” University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, October 13.
Lecture, “Identity & Representation in Photography,” Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, April 27, online.

EDUCATION

2024
MFA, Photography & Related Media, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY

2017
BFA, Photography, Savannah College of Art and Design, Atlanta, GA

CONTACT

info@crosesmith.com