E-J MAJOR
b. 1971, Cowloon, Hong Kong
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
