I am a photographer, artist and retired professor of art. I make photographs, drawings, collages, books and boxes. Making art is a daily habit: a meditation, a centering .

My interest in photography was sparked in childhood, when I looked at family albums. I am interested in how photographs reflect history – a record in time of how people presented their life to the camera. Evidence of the past always viewed in the present,

I started photographing in high school in the late 1960s.  I studied art history in college because I loved looking at art, having grown up in New York City, visiting museums. Bruegel’s “Harvesters” at the Metropolitan is always a revelation to me.

It was in graduate school at Pratt Institute that I understood I was an artist, and a teacher. I began an academic career at the UT Austin in 1978, returning to NYC in 1986 to teach at the School of Visual Arts. In 2001 I started teaching at Pratt Institute. I retired from both schools in 2022.

I show my work at the Carter Burden Gallery in NYC , It can also be seen online at NYArtistsCircle.com and Visura.co.

EDUCATION

MFA in Photography, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, 1978
BA in Art History, SUNY at Stony Brook, NY, 1974
Hunter College High School, 1970

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

TEACHING
Adjunct Full Professor, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, 2002- 2022
Adjunct Professor, School of Visual Arts, NYC, 1986 - 2022 (BFA Dept Photo & Video, MPS Digital Photo)
Handmade Book Workshop, MPS Digital Program, School of Visual Arts 2010 - 2021
Assistant Professor, University of Texas Art Dept, 1978 - 1985
Teaching Assistant, Art History, Pratt Institute 1978

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

Artist-in-Residence, Carter Burden Network- Covello Center for the Aging, East Harlem, 3 month residencies, in 204, 2015 & 2019.
Artist-in-Residence, Brookhaven College, Farmer’s Branch, TX May 2016 -  handmade book workshops for art students
Hospital Artist-in-Residence, The Creative Center NYC 2003 -2006
- made art with oncology patients at Englewood Hospital, NJ

PHOTO/BOOK REVIEWER
Photo Reviewer, Lensculture.com, 2016 – 2018
Portfolio Reviewer, APA/NY, 2014
Contributing Writer, AmericanSuburbX  2014 - 2015
Book Reviewer, Fraction Magazine 2009

ARCHIVES & MUSEUMS
Photo Archivist, NYC Dept of Parks & Recreation, 1988 - 1990
Photo Archivist, Museum of the City of New York, 1986 – 1988

PHOTOGRAPHY
Freelance Photographer, 1977 - present
Photographer, Sharir Dance Company, Austin, Texas 1982 - 1983
Part-time Assistant to W. Eugene Smith, Photographer, New York, NY, 1977

VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
Hospice Volunteer, Jacob Perlow Hospice, NYC 2001-2005

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

2021 “The Magic is In The Seeing: Philip Perkis and his Legacy” Church of the Heavenly Rest 1080 Fifth Avenue NYC (with Kristin Holcomb, Abby Robinson, & Lynne Saville)

2018 "Pairs" NYPhotoCurator.com on Instagram
2016 | Ken Castaneda: Photographs, SVA Student Gallery
2015 | NASAD Exhibition, Pratt Institute Photography Department, Brooklyn NY
2014 | “Portraiture in the 21st Century” Ochosi Editions, Benedictine University, Illinois
2014 | “Brighton Beach Pictured”, Brighton Beach BID, Brooklyn NY
2013 | “Baked, Boiled & Fried” photos by Emily Larsen, SVA Student Gallery
2012 | “Tahata” SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) MFA show and book
2010 | “Together Yet A Part” photos by Patricia Voulgaris, SVA Student Gallery
“The Cherry Project” photos by B-Rad Izzy, SVA Student Gallery
2009 | “Ties” photographs by Stephen Pacuk, SVA Student Gallery
2006 | “Black & White Delight” (4 students) SVA Student Gallery
2004 | “Photo Bookworks – A Selection” Visual Arts Gallery, Chelsea NYC
1990 | “Picturing Brooklyn” photos from the NYC Parks Dept. Archive, Boathouse Gallery, Prospect Park
1989 | “Winners” hand-colored photos from the NYC Parks Dept Archive- Arsenal Gallery NYC and The Boathouse, Central Park
1988 | “Now & Then: Camera Club of New York” City Gallery, NYC
1984 | “Selected Portfolios” Texas Photographic Society, Austin Texas
1983 | “Looking Inward: Photographers Photograph Themselves” Photowork gallery Austin Texas
1977 | “The Nude” Pratt Institute Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

HONORS & AWARDS

Faculty Development Awards, Pratt Institute, 2006, 2011, 2015, 2019
Nominated for Santa Fe Prize in Photography, 2011
Photolucida/Critical Mass Finalist, 2009 & 2013
NYFA (New York Foundation for the Arts)
Photography Fellow 2008

Finalist, Alfred Eisenstaedt Awards, Magazine Photography, 2000
Visiting Artist, Ellis Island Project, Montclair State College, NJ, 1988
Women Studio Workshop grant (to publish artist book) 1986
Innovative Teaching Grants, University of Texas at Austin, 1982-83
Ford Foundation Grant, University of Texas at Austin, 1981
Pratt Institute Fellowship, 1976
Bio listed in “Who’s Who in American Art”

INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

EXHIBITIONS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2019|“On The Wall: Bloodlines” Carter Burden Gallery, NYC
2017 |"East Harlem Diptychs" Carter Burden Gallery NYC
2015 |“Respecting My Elders” Weill Gallery, 92nd Street, NYC
“Woven Women from Art History” collages, Carter Burden Gallery, Chelsea NYC
2014 |20 Collages from “Women in Art History” Leonard Covello Center, East Harlem
2013 |“Respecting My Elders”, National Arts Club, NYC (slide lecture)
2012 |“Ellen Wallenstein Portraits”, Penumbra Foundation NYC
2011 |“Respecting My Elders”, Pictorial Photographers of America (slides/lecture)
2009 |“Opus for Anne, A Still Life”, Professional Women Photographers, NYC and Camera Club of New York/School of Visual Arts
2007 |“Opus for Anne” A Still Life”, Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement, NYC
2006 |“Director’s Cut”, Aperture Foundation Online Gallery
2005 |“Opus: Anne’s Windows”, Creative Center Gallery, Chelsea, NYC
1989 |“Winners”- hand-colored photos from the NYC Parks Archive, Arsenal Gallery,  NYC
“Dream Images”, Camera Club of New York, NYC
1984 |“Wedding Photographs”, Alcove Gallery, Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX
1983 |“Dance Photographs”, Houston Jewish Center & Accent Photo Gallery, Austin TX
1981 |“Children & Other Fantasies”, Transact Theater, Austin, Texas
1980 |“Ellen Wallenstein - Photographs”, Alma Thomas Fine Arts Center, Southwestern University, Georgetown,TX

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 / https://c4fap.org/revisiting-the-family-album-stories-that-bind-us Center for Fine Art Photography, Colorado

Book show- Carter Burden Gallery, NYC

2022 “Ten Book Art Professors”, Pratt Institute Library, Brooklyn NY

“Elsewhere” NYArtistCircle, , curated by Hayley Ferber. https://nyartistscircle.com/curated-shows/elsewhere

Carter Burden Gallery, Group Summer Show 10x10”

2021 “Cyanotypes”, Carter Burden Gallery NYC

For One Night Only”, Michael Foley Gallery NYC (with Gerald Slota and Evie McKenna)

“Full Tilt Boogie Woogie”, NYArtistsCircle.com, curated by A. Aptaker. https://nyartistscircle.com/curated-shows/full-tilt-boogie-woogie

“The Magic is in the Seeing: Philip Perkis & His Creative Legacy”, Church of the Heavenly Rest, NYC (curated & exhibited)
2017 |Summer in the City, Carter Burden Gallery, NYC


Portfolios: http://www.lightleaked.com/ellen-wallenstein-portfolio.html
2015 |“What Is A Portrait”, Ripe Gallery, Huntington NY
2 x 6 x 17 Drawing Show, Carter Burden Gallery, Chelsea NYC
Ellen Walllenstein & Jerry Vezzuso, Collages & Drawings, Covello Center
12 x 12 Group Show, Carter Burden Gallery NY
2014 |“What You See Is What You Get”, Carter Burden Gallery, Chelsea NYC
2012-13 |“An Inventory of Al Mutanabbi Street”, Baghdad Museum, Iraq & international venues, Center for Book Arts NYC and Columbia University Library
2011 |”The Photograph Un/Framed” Center for Book Arts, NYC
“Crossing Disciplines: Books” Schaefler Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY
2009 |“Artseen” Frederick Petzel Gallery, NYC
2008 |“Reunion”: Work by Pratt Alumni, Steuben Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2006 |“Bienal di Arte Contemporaneo”, Circulo de Bellas Artes de Madrid, Spain
“The Artist & The Book” Pelham Arts Center, Pelham, NY
2005 |“Women of the Book” U. of Miami; Rutgers University, Camden NJ
2004 |“SVA Photo Bookworks- A Selection 2002-4”, Visual Arts Gallery, NYC
2003 |“Dreams & Nightmares”, Alison Palmer Gallery, Bantam, CT
“DivRcity” Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, NYC
2002 |“Soho Photo Auction”, Buhl Foundation Benefit show, NYC
“My Life, My City”,  (Kiboko Workshop shows) NYC & St. Petersburg, Russia
2000 |Group Show, Barbara Ann Levy Gallery, Cherry Grove, Fire Island NY1998 |
“Women of the Book”, traveling Nationally/Internationally thru 2005
1996 |“Mysterious Worlds”, Center for Book Arts, NYC
1990 |“Visiting Photographers Exhibition”, Ellis Island Museum, NYC
1989 |“Selected Photographs”, The Brooklyn Museum, NY
“24 Exposures”, Union Square Gallery, NYC
“Signatures: Bookworks by Women”, Center for Book Arts, NYC
1988 |“Fun & Games”, Center for Book Arts, NYC
1987 |
“Visions: New Photography”, Puchong Gallery, NYC
“Homage to Man Ray”, Puchong Gallery, NYC
“Visions of Eros”, Philip Stansbury Gallery, NYC
1986 |“New American Talent” Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, TX
“Ten Texas Photographers” Abilene Fine Arts Center, TX
“National Exhibition of Handmade Books” TX Women’s Univ., Denton, TX
1985 |“Contemporary Photoworks” Albuquerque, NM
“Light Sensitive IV” University of Florida, Gainesville, FLA.
“Architectural Elements: Clay & Silver” Ohio State University, OH
1984 |“Texas Women Photographers”, Canon Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1983 |“Looking Inward: Photographers Photograph Themselves”, Photowork Gallery, Austin TX
1982 |“Ten Women: Ten Artists” Diseno Gallery, Austin TX
“Three Photographers: The Human Presence”, Waco Art Center, Waco TX
1980 |“4th Annual Small Works Show” New York University, NY
1978 |“Works on Paper, Southwest”, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, TX
1977 |“The Nude” Pratt Institute Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

BOOK ARTS EXHIBITIONS

2019| “10th Annual Self Published Photobook Show”, Davis-Orton Gallery, Hudson NY and Griffin Museum, Winchester MA
2014 |“In Focus” Juried Exhibit of Self-Published Photo Books, Phoenix Art Museum
2013 |“Photobook 2013” Davis-Orton Gallery, Hudson, NY (Best of Show);“Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here”, Butler Library, Columbia University and Center for Book Arts, NYC
2012-13 |“An Inventory of Al Mutanabbi Street”, Baghdad Museum, Iraq & international venues, Center for Book Arts NYC
2012 |“500 Handmade Books” Volume 2, Lark Publishers
2011 |
“Crossing Disciplines: Books” Pratt Institute, Schaefler Gallery, Brooklyn
“The Photograph Un/Framed” Center for Book Arts, NYC
2009 |
“A Book About Death” Emily Harvey Foundation NYC;
2007 |
“Opus for Anne” books & photos, Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement, NYC
2006 |
“The Artist and the Book” Pelham Art Center, NY
2005 |
“Broadsides” 30thAnniversary Members Exhibition, Center for Book Arts;
2004 |
“SVA PhotoBookWorks- A Selection 2002-04” Visual Arts Gallery NYC
2003 |
“Selected Works” Womens Studio Workshop, SUNY Westchester Art Gallery, NY
2002 |
“My Life, My City” (Kiboko Workshop) NYC & St. Petersberg, Russia;
1998-05 |
“Women of the Book: Jewish Artists, Jewish Themes”(International travelling exhibition curated by Judith Hoffberg)
1996 |
“Mysterious Worlds” Center for Book Arts, NYC
1995 |
“Women’s Work: An Open Book” Harpercollins Exhibition Space, NYC;
1994 |
“Women’s Studio Workshop: XX Years” SUNY New Paltz NY
1993 |
“Seven Deadly Sins” Center for Book Arts NYC
1991-5 |
“Photographic Book Art in the United States” (travelling show)
1989 |
“Signatures: Bookworks by Women” Center for Book Arts NYC
1987 |
“Fun &Games” Center for Book Arts NYC
1986 |
“National Exhibition of Handmade Books” TWU, Denton, TX.

PUBLISHED BOOKS & WRITINGS

PUBLISHED BOOKS

2018 | NYC Diptychs- Art: Found or Sanctioned
2017 |
East Harlem Diptychs
NYC Squares: On the Street, from the Car & Underground
Street Scenes / NYC Squares, Museums & History
2016 |
“East Harlem, Spring
2013 |
“Respecting My Elders”, portraits
2009 |
“Dead Men Circa 1881”, Blurb books
2008 |
“Pocketbook of Drag Queens”, Blurb books
1986 |
“A Game of Chess”, Women’s Studio Workshop

PUBLISHED WRITINGS & PHOTOGRAPHS

Shots Magazine Issue 149: Fall 2020: Open Theme
“i” by Eamonn Doyle, book review AmericanSuburbX
“Up Close & Personal” exhibition review, AmericanSuburbX
“Land Line” by Michael Schmellling, book review AmericanSuburbX
“Disquiet” by Amani Willet, book review Fraction Magazine online
“My Dakota” by Rebecca Norris Webb, book review, Fraction Magazine online
“The Bridge at Hoover Dam by Jamey Stillings”, book review, Fraction Magazine online
PDNedu Spring 2013 Generosity, Mentoring and Support: Tierney Family Foundation Assists Young Photographers with a Global Reach
Both Fall 2011 PDNedu and PDNedu.com: “Project X” Photographic Growth Spurt “(2 Boston high schools)
“A Taste for Images” (SVA Class with W.m. Hunt and A. Brez
“One To Nothing” by Irina Rozovsky book review Fraction Magazine online Issue 30
“Regeneration2: Tomorrows Photographers Today” Fraction Magazine online Issue 21
“The Black Eye” photographs by Michal Chelbin, Fraction Magazine online Issue 18
“Danny Lyon - Photographs 1962 - 1987”, feature, Afterimage, Vol 15 No 8 March 1988
“Vanity Fair”, book review,  Feine Leute, 111 Photographien der Jahre 1979 bis 1985 by Herlinde Koebl,  Afterimage, Vol 14 No 5 Dec 1986 pp 19-20
“Larry Clark - Outlaw No More”, feature, review of Teenage Lust and interview Spot, Houston Center for Photography, Vol 3 No 3 Fall 1984 pp14-17
“Shutter Satires”- review of Hollis Frampton exhibit, Austin American-Statesman, SecG p3 8/8/85
“Fritz Henle’s Perspective” New York Photo District News, May 1985
“Focus: Austin”  - feature, New York Photo District News, Vol 4 No 2 Nov 1984
“The Writer’s Image, Literary portraits” by Jill Krementz, book review, Photoletter, Vol 5 No 1 Spring 1984
“Energy, Impulse & Yacov Sharir”, feature & photographs, Third Coast Magazine Vol 2  March 1983
“The Ties that Bind” photography review, Artweek, Vol 12 No 41, pp 11-12, Dec 1981  

COLLECTIONS

Austin History Center, Austin, TX

Barnard College Library Zine Collection
The Brooklyn Museum, NY
Center for Creative Photography, W.E. Smith Collection; Tucson, AZ
Ellis Island Museum, NY
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FLA.

Franklin Furnace Archive, Brooklyn NY
Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Watson Library
Museum of the City of New York, NY

Museum of Modern Art Library
Performing Arts Library, Lincoln Center, NY

Pratt Institute Library

Printed Matter, NYC
Pfizer, Inc. Art Collection, NYC
Russell Lee Collection, Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos TX

School of Visual Arts Library
Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX

Women’s Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
Private Collections