Tierney Gearon Overview

Fine art and fashion photographer Tierney Gearon was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1963. She studied ballet, and was discovered by a modeling agency while training in Utah. During her time modeling in Europe, Gearon became interested in photography and took... [more]

Fine art and fashion photographer Tierney Gearon was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1963. She studied ballet, and was discovered by a modeling agency while training in Utah. During her time modeling in Europe, Gearon became interested in photography and took snapshots of her fellow models. Gearon launched a successful career as a fashion photographer, working for W Magazine, i-D, and New York Magazine, among others. Photographs of her children caused controversy when they were exhibited in the Saatchi Gallery exhibition, 'I am a camera.' In Gearon's images, her children were naked and playful--in one image, her son and daughter wear nothing but plastic masks, and, in another, her son urinates in snow. Gearon was accused of exploiting and sexualizing her children. The uproar rapidly increased Gearon's visibility as both and artist. As Gearon began a new body of work--photographs of her mother, a woman who has suffered from mental illness throughout much of her adult life--documentary filmmakers Peter Sutherland and Jack Youngelson followed her. The resulting documentary and photographs, both titled The Mother Project, were visually provocative and critically acclaimed. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and the photographs were exhibited at Yossi Milo Gallery in 2006. Gearon's recent exhibition, Explosure, was on view at Phillip de Pury and Company in 2008 and at Ace Gallery in 2009. [show less]