E-J MAJOR

b. 1971, Cowloon, Hong Kong

E-J Major, 1983/did not cry

E-J Major, 1983/did not cry

E-J Major began her education at Edinburgh University where she studied sociology and gender studies from 1992-94. She went on to Hereford College of Art and Design where she picked up photography and finally received a BA in Photography from Nottingham Trent.  Major continued her education of photography and received a MFA in Fine Art, Goldsmiths from the University of London.

Her early studies of sociology and gender studies greatly influenced the motifs of her artwork. The language of her artwork continues to evolve with contemporary issues involving identity and pop culture surrounding the internet generation.  The photographic work of Major is narrative and often is based in performance.  The artwork is a dialogue with people and the constructs of who we are, why, and how this aids in our social survival.

In her most featured series, Marie Claire RIP, Major visually emulates an article published in Marie Claire of a woman’s mug-shot collection over fourteen years. The woman is an unknown heroin addict and the mug shots progress into more a more somber appearance throughout the years. Major is questioning the ideology of these images and their relationship to the female form.

Major’s work is highly celebrated within the contemporary photography community and has been shown within solo and group exhibitions internationally. She’s won many awards that have pushed her photography to the forefront of galleries, collections, and publications. Her work has exhibited at the Dallas Contemporary, the 2nd International Fotofestival 2007 in Germany, Clampart in New York, The Australian Centre of Photography in Sydney, and The Minnesota Centre of Photography in Minneapolis, among many others.

CV

2006

Emerging Photographers Award Winner, Toronto

2005

Film Studies, University of Exeter

2000

Manchester Academy Preston’s of Bolton Award

City Gallery Leicester Phoenix arts Prize

Lincolnshire Gallery Overall Winner

1996-99

BA First Class (Hons) Photography, Nottingham Trent

1995-96

ND Photography, Hereford College of Art and Design

1992-94

Sociology and Gender Studies, Edinburgh University

EXHIBITIONS

2007

Clampart Gallery, New York The EMERGENCE OF THE DIGITAL PORTRAIT

Photographs do not Bend Gallery, Dallas

Quayside arts centre, toronto

Street level gallery, Glasgow

The Art gallery, siegen, germany

Bildmuseet Umea, Sweden As serious as your life

Darmstadter Tage der Fotografie, Germany

2006

Emerging Photographers Award Show, Lennox Contemporary Gallery, Toronto

Frieze Art Fair with Trolley Gallery

Shoreditch Arts Festival, Leonard St

2005

Fotobild, Berlin

Love Is… Camera, in association with Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto

Association of Photographers Gallery, London

2003

New Work, The Foundry London

2002

InSight Gallery, Norwich

2001

Llauderdale House Gallery, London

Manchester Academy, Manchester

Visible, Cardiff Art Gallery

Women’s Work Exhibition, ArtLink Exchange, Hull

City Gallery, Leicester

The Society of Scottish Artists, Edinburgh

2000

Art Exchange Gallery, Nottingham

The Lincolnshire Gallery, Lincoln

PUBLICATIONS

2006

Flash Forward, The Magenta Foundation CA

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

2006

E-J Major, Fotograf Magazine CZ, November

Focus, Frankfurter Rundshau, October

Show and Tell, British Journal of Photography, September

2005

Auf Eigene Faust, ArtInvestor Magaine DE, February