Rebecca A. "Becky" Senf (born 1972) is an American writer and curator working in the field of photography.Jean Dykstra, "The Curators", photograph magazine, September/October 2016 She is the Chief Curator at the Center for Creative Photography (CCP)."Contact Us: Rebecca (Becky) Senf", ccp.arizona.edu She joined the CCP as Norton Family Assistant Curator in 2007, which was a joint appointment with Phoenix Art Museum, and was promoted to Chief Curator in 2016.
Biography Senf grew up in Tucson, Arizona, the daughter of an amateur photographer who inspired her early awareness of the medium and the powerful influence of light.Aline Smithson, "The Rebecca Senf Mixtape", Lenscratch, November 15, 2013 She received a B.A. in art history from the University of Arizona in 1994, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History from Boston University, in 2001 and 2008 respectively."Rebecca (Becky) Senf", Center for Creative Photography Her doctoral dissertation was on Ansel Adams. "Drawings/Prints/Works on Paper: Dissertations Completed by Subject, 2008" caareviews.org Rebecca A. Senf, "Ansel Adams's "practical Modernism": The Development of a Commercial Photographer, 1916-1936" listed on Google books
Senf worked at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston from 2000 to 2005, where she co-curated a major exhibition of Ansel Adams’ work, with Karen Haas, and co-authored the exhibition catalogue, Ansel Adams from the Lane Collection. In the catalogue, a section created by Senf that reproduces Adams' stamps and labels has become the standard used by major auction houses, such as Christie's and Sotheby's, to indicate which of Adams' stamps/labels appears on a particular work of art, referring to the stamp or label with a Boston Museum of Fine Arts, BMFA number.Example of Auction Lot: Ansel Adams, Grass and Pool, Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California, c. 1935 with BMFA Stamp 4, Christie's Example of Auction Lot: Ansel Adams, Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico with BFMA 111, Sotheby's
During her time at the Center for Creative Photography and Phoenix Art Museum, Senf has curated both contemporary and historical photographic exhibitions, including working with Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe, Linda Connor, and Betsy Schneider, and produced exhibitions on Group f/64, platinum photography, and photographic books. Christina O'Haver, "Charting the Canyon", Downtown Phoenix Journal, May 29, 2009 Alain R. Truong, "Odyssey: The Photographs of Linda Connor", alaintruong.com, December 7, 2008 "Exhibition Chronicles Turning Point in American Photography", ccp.arizona.edu, February 11, 2008 Celina Jimenez, "'Platinum' Brings Tasteful Photography Showcase to Phoenix Art Museum", The State Press, February 15, 2015 Mark Brodie, "Self-published Photo Books On Display In Exhibit At Phoenix Art Museum", kjzz.org, September 5, 2014
She currently lives in Tucson and has two children. "About Rebecca Senf", Art Photo Index
Exhibitions curated by Senf 2005: Ansel Adams in the Lane Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Co-curated with Karen Haas.
2007: Debating Modern Photography: The Triumph of Group f/64, Phoenix Art Museum, Center for Creative Photography, and Portland Museum of Art [shown in Tucson in 2008 and in ME in 2010].La Monica Everett-Haynes, "The Modern Photography Debate Explored", uanews.arizona.edu, February 12, 2008 Editor, "Photographs by Group f/64 on View this Fall at the Portland Museum of Art", museumpublicity.com, April 5, 2010
2008: Richard Avedon: Photographer of Influence, Phoenix Art Museum and Nassau County Museum of Art [shown in NY IN 2011] Martha Schwendener, "Avedon, Breaking Through the Artifice of Celebrity", The New York Times, June 25, 2011
2008: Odyssey: Photographs of Linda Connor, Center for Creative Photography, Palm Springs Art Museum, Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and Southeast Museum of Photography, Daytona, FL [shown in Tucson in 2009, in Palm Springs in 2009/2010, in Rhode Island in 2010 and in Daytona, FL in 2010/2011] "Odyssey: The Photographs of Linda Connor Now Open at Phoenix Art Museum" Art Daily
2009: Face to Face: 150 Years of Photographic Portraiture, Phoenix Art Museum "Get Upclose and Personal with Portraits at Phoenix Art Museum Photography Exhibition", Art Daily
2010: Ansel Adams: Discoveries, Phoenix Art Museum"Phoenix Art Museum is the Exclusive Venue for Ansel Adams: Discoveries", Art Daily
2011: The Bridge at Hoover Dam: Photographs by Jamey Stillings, Phoenix Art Museum "Photo Essay by Photographer Jamey Stillings Captures the Construction of a New Industrial Wonder", Art Daily
2014: INFOCUS Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks, Phoenix Art Museum "Juried exhibition of self-published photobooks opening at Phoenix Art Museum", Art Daily
2014: All that Glitters is Not Gold: Platinum Photography from the Center for Creative Photography, Phoenix Art Museum"All That Glitters is Not Gold" phxart.org
2015: Not MY Family Values, Art Photo Index online "Not MY Family Values – An Art Photo Index exhibition by Rebecca Senf", Art Photo Index
2018: To Be Thirteen: Photographs and Videos by Betsy Schneider, Phoenix Art Museum "Phoenix Art Museum presents works chronicling the experience of being a teen in the United States", Art Daily
2018: Richard Avedon: Relationships, Center for Creative Photography Ann Brown, "Avedon exhibit at Tucson's Center for Creative Photography puts relationships into focus" Arizona Daily Star, December 12, 2018 Margaret Regan, "Up Close and Personal: Avedon’s spectacular portraits at CCP capture boldface names of late 20th century", Tucson Weekly, January 24, 2019
Publications In conjunction with exhibitions curated by Senf:
Ansel Adams in the Lane Collection, Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 2005 "Ansel Adams in the Lane Collection", listed on Amazon
Reconstructing the View: The Grand Canyon Photographs of Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012 "Reconstructing the View: The Grand Canyon Photographs of Mark Klett and Byron Wolfe", listed on Amazon
David Taylor: Monuments, Santa Fe: Radius Books/Nevada Museum of Art, 2015
Betsy Schneider: To Be Thirteen, Santa Fe: Radius Books/Phoenix Art Museum, 2017 "Betsy Schneider: To Be Thirteen", listed on Amazon
Books by Senf Making a Photographer: The Early Work of Ansel Adams, New Haven: Yale University Press/Center for Creative Photography, 2020 "Making a Photographer: The Early Work of Ansel Adams", listed on Amazon
Writing contributions by Senf Before and After Photography: Histories and Contexts, New York: Bloomsbury, 2017 "Before and After Photography: Histories and Contexts", listed on Amazon
Awards 2012: "Best Curator" by the Arizona RepublicRichard Nilsen, "Best Curator: Rebecca Senf", azcentral.com, March 20, 2012
2014: "Rising Star Focus Award" by Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA "Rising Star – 2014", griffinmuseum.org, September 9, 2014
References