Photographs Exploring the Historical,
Contemporary, Everyday Aspects
of the American Cultural Landscape
Photographs Exploring the Historical,
Contemporary, Everyday Aspects
of the American Cultural Landscape
Born
San Francisco, California, 1955; presently lives in Stanfordville, New York
Education and work experience
Public education K-12th grade.
Self-taught photographer; owned and operated photography and graphic design studio in Santa Barbara, California 1982-1997.
1997 to present: works full time as fine-art photographer and part-time as graphic designer and writer.
Representation
Robert Mann Gallery, New York, NY (212. 989-7600)
Robert Klein Gallery, Boston, MA (617.267.7997)
Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, CA (415. 421. 0122)
Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (310. 828. 6410)
Solo Exhibitions
Jeff Brouws: Just About Everything, Someplace Else, Robert Mann Gallery, New York City 2024
Jeff Brouws: Typologies, Robert Mann Gallery, New York City 2022 (on-line)
Twenty-five Years: Typologies, Projects and Portfolios, Robert Mann Gallery, New York City 2016
Desuetude, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, 2016
Fields of Information, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, 2012
The Machine in the Garden: Photographs by Jeff Brouws 2009-2011 Robert Mann Gallery, New York, 2011
Approaching Nowhere, Walter E. Terhune Gallery, Owens Community College, Toledo, Ohio 2011 Excerpts
From The Narrative, Galerie Toni Tapies, Barcelona 2010
Approaching Nowhere, Olin Gallery, Kenyon College 2009
Approaching Nowhere, Robert Klein Gallery, Boston 2007
Approaching Nowhere, Robert Mann Gallery, New York 2006
Approaching Nowhere, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco 2006
Approaching Nowhere, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica 2006
American Typologies, Gallery Seomi, Seoul, South Korea 2004
American Typologies, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco Nov-Dec 2003
American Typologies, Robert Mann Gallery, NYC Sept-Oct 2003
American Typologies, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica May-June 2003
Inside the Live Reptile Tent, Robert Mann Gallery, New York City September-October, 2001
Inside the Live Reptile Tent, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco May-June, 2001
Photographs by Jeff Brouws, Ralls Collection, Washington D.C., April-June, 2001
The Myth of Mobility: selections from Highway 1989-2000 & Typology VI: Freight Cars,
Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California September 2000
A City Renewed, Cleveland Museum of Art, January-March 2000
Eight from Vegas: A selection from the American Cities Project, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California 1999
Highway: America’s Endless Dream, Robert Mann Gallery, New York 1998
Highway: America’s Endless Dream, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco 1998
A Landscape Laid Quiet: The Abandoned Drive-In Theatre in America, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa
Monica, California 1998
Highway: America’s Endless Dream, Museum Ludwig, Aachen, Germany, January 1998
Midway (Carnival photographs), Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California 1997 (November)
Highway: Amertica’s Endless Dream, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, California 1997 (January)
Highway: America’s Endless Dream, Galerie Brigette Ihsen, Cologne, Germany 1996
Excerpts From The Narrative, The Fielding Institute, Santa Barbara, California 1994
Views From Ground Zero, De La Guerra Gallery, Santa Barbara, California 1989
Death and Transfiguration, Visible Light Gallery, Santa Barbara, California 1980
Group Exhibitions
2025
Eternal Construction: Photographic Perspectives on Southern California’s Built Environment, 2025, Laguna Art Museum
Blur / Obscure / Distort Photography & Perception, The Norton Museum of Art, 2025
2023
Deep Dive, Robert Klein Gallery, 2023
Summer Lovin’, Robert Mann Gallery, 2023
2022
The Lens of Architecture: Photography, Buildings, and Meaning, Santa Barbara Museum of Art Museum of Art, 2022
2020
Sanctuary, Robert Klein Gallery, 2020
2019
Visible & Divisible America, Spencer Museum of Art, 2019
Without You I am Nothing, Nevada Museum of Art, 2019
Life is a Highway: American Car Culture, Toledo Museum of Art, 2019
2018
American Structures, Robert Klein Gallery, 2018
Earth, Wind and Fire, Robert Klein Gallery, 2018
2017
Surveillance, Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, 2016-17
2016
Ed Ruscha: Books & Co., Gagosian Gallery, Los Angeles, 2016
CAPP at Ten: The Shape of Remembering, Stamp Gallery, University of Maryland, 2016
2015
And Now It’s Dark: American Night Photography, Diffusion: Cardiff Photography Festival, Wales, 2015
The Road, Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, 2015
Ed Ruscha and Tributes: Choisi, ArtPhilein Foundation, Lugano, Switzerland, 2015
2014
And Now It’s Dark: American Night Photography, Dejanogly Art Gallery, University of Nottingham, 2014
2012
Fabricated, Tremaine Gallery, Hotchkiss Schhol, Lakeville, Connecticut
Portrayal / Betrayal, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California 2012
Behind the Wheel, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California 2012
The Permanent Way, (with Justine Kurland, Mark Ruwedel, Victoria Sambunaris,
and James Welling), Apexart, New York City, 2012
The Dwelling Life of Man with works from Martin Z. Margulies collection,
Foundation Foto Collectania, Barcelona, Spain 2012
Baltz, Becher, Ruscha w/ Jeff Brouws in The Project Room, Yancey Richardson Gallery, NYC, 2012
2011
The Dwelling Life of Man with works from Martin Z. Margulies collection,
Pedro Barrié Foundation in A Coruña, Spain 2011
Contemporary Landscape Photography, group exhibition, Cleveland Museum of Art, March 26-August 14, 2011.
The Life and Death of Buildings, group exhibition, Princeton University Art Museum, July 23 – November 6, 2011.
The Altered Landscape, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada 2011
2010
Deep Looking: Cultural Landscapes in Photography and Film, St Lawrence University, 2010
On The Road: The Legacy of Walker Evans, The Robert Lehman Art Center, Brooks School,
North Andover, Massachusetts 2010
Road to Nowhere (curated by Natasha Egan) Houston Fotofest, 2010
La photographie n’est pas l’art. La collection Silvio Perlstein,
Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Strasbourg, Belgium 2010
2009
La photographie n’est pas l’art. La collection Silvio Perlstein,
Musée d’Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium 2009
Berkus Collection, Alan Hancock College, Santa Maria, California 2009
2008
Remembering Dakota, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, North Dakota 2008
Road Trip, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California 2008
In Our Dreams, Sasha Wolf Gallery, New York 2008
2007
Oog-Eye: Photographs from Collection Dancing Bear, FOAM Fotografie museum, Amsterdam, 2007
Contemporary, Cool and Collected, Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, North Carolina 2007
Easy Rider: Road Trip Through America, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York 2007
Made in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California 2007
Ingenuity: Photography and Engineering 1846-2006, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon 2007
2006
Suburban Escape, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California 2006
Barry Berkus and Family Collection, Santa Barbara, California 2006
Sans Regard, La Collection Dancing Bear de W.M. Hunt, Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, 2006
Summer in the Central Court, Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas 2006
2005
Kennedy, Marla Hamburg, Looking At Los Angeles, pgs.44, 123, 127, 211, Metropolis Books 2005
2004
Brouws, Jeff and Steinheimer, Richard, A Passion for Trains: The Railroad Photography of Richard Steinheimer,
W. W. Norton, 192 pages, hardbound, November 2004 Also acted as designer
Art in America, review for American Typologies, January 2004, pgs. 112-113 (with 9 photos)
2003
The New York Times Magazine, September 28, 2003, pgs. 60-61
The New Yorker, review for American Typologies, October 6, 2003, pg. 30
Brouws, Jeff, San Francisco Chronicle Magazine “Ticky-Tacky: On a Welcome Emergence of
Color in the “Burbs,” September 21, 2003, pg. 36
Ollman, Leah, The Los Angeles Times ‘Around the Galleries,’
“Cataloging the Cultural Landscape,” review for American Typologies. June 13, 2004, pg. E22
Calado, Jorge, Rocks and Stones in Photography, Eugenio de Alemeida Foundation, 2003
hardbound, cover and plate 16.
Brouws, Jeff, Readymades: American Roadside Artifacts,
Chronicle Books, 272 pages, hardbound, April 2003 Also acted as designer
2002
Visions from America: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art hardbound, pg. 202. Fall 2002
The New Yorker, July 15, 2002, pgs. 68-69
DoubleTake #25, Inside the Live Reptile Tent, Summer 2001, pg. 103”
2001
Gaston, Diane, Art On Paper, Inside the Live Reptile Tent, September-October 2001,
volume 6, pg. 87
Glueck, Grace New York Times Art in Review, Inside The Live Reptile Tent, September 28, 2001, pg. E37
The New Yorker, review for Inside the Live Reptile Tent, October 1, 2001, pg. 21
Edgar Allen Beem, Photo District News, “Lost in America,” August, 2001, cover, pgs. 42-48 Brouws, Jeff & Caron, Bruce, Inside the Live Reptile Tent: The Twilight World of the Carnival Midway, Chronicle Books, 144 pages, softbound, April 2001 Also acted as designer
2000
Brouws, Jeff & Delvers, Ed, Starlight on the Rails, Harry N. Abrams, 144 pages, hardbound, November, 2000,
Also acted as designer
The New Yorker, April 10, 2000, pg 83
Yannopoulos, Charles, “City Strife,” Cleveland Scene On-Line, February 2, 2000
Hinson, Tom E., “A City Renewed,” Cleveland Museum of Art Magazine, January 2000, pgs. 6-7
1999
The New Yorker, December 27, 1999, pgs. 100-101
Halpert, Peter Hay, “Editor’s Choice—Art Buys,” July/August 1999, American Photographer, pg. 18.
1998
Selected images, Blind Spot, Issue # 12, November 1998, cover, inside front cover, pgs. 2-4
1997
Shubert, Lawrence, “Portfolio”, Detour Magazine, November 1997, pgs. 134-35
Smith, Michael, “Roadside Romance: Six Santa Barbara photographers on a joyful search for America’s soul,”
Santa Barbara Magazine, Fall 1997, pgs. 46-51
Willette, Jeanne S. M. , “Photography as Commentary: The Camera (obscura) and Post-Philosophical
Systems,” Artweek, July 1997, pgs. 16-17
Brouws, Jeff & Polster, Bernd, Highway: America’s Endless Dream,
Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 166 pages, soft bound, 1997
1996
Brouws, Jeff & Polster, Bernd, Highway: America’s Endless Dream,
Dumont Verlag, Koln, 166 pages, soft bound, 1996
Polster, Bernd, Super oder Normal Tankstellen--Geschichte eines modernen Mythos
Dumont Verlag, Koln, 1996, pgs. 6, 10, 55, 73, 98, 99, 116, 124, 134, 135, 140, 141, 142, 172, 173, 180, 190, 191,
204
1995
Polster, Bernd, West Wind: Die Amerikanisierung Europas,
Dumont Verlag, Koln, 1995, pages 56-61
Darling, Michael, Four Photographers, Scene Magazine, Santa Barbara News Press
October, 1995, pages 8-9
1994
Crowder, Joan, The Turning Point, Scene Magazine, Santa Barbara News Press
May 1994, pages 25-27
1992
Brouws, Jeff, Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations, self-published,
Santa Barbara, California, 48 pages, softbound, 1992 Also acted as designer
County Fair Photographs, Nippon Camera, May 1992, pgs. 81-84
1990
Readings Section, Harper’s Magazine, April 1990, page 35
1989
Brouws, Jeff, Views From Ground Zero, self-published, Santa Barbara, California,
16 pages, soft bound, 1989 Also acted as designer
Brouws, Jeff, Locomotive & Railway Preservation, “LAUPT: Rebirth of a Great Station”,
September / October 1989, pgs. 28-36
Brouws, Jeff, Locomotive & Railway Preservation, “On Steam and Significance”, July / August 1989, pgs. 9-15
1988
Readings Section , Harper’s Magazine, August 1988, page 21
Brouws, Jeff, Trains, “Remember the Railroader”, January 1988, pgs. 82
1987
Brouws, Jeff, Trains, “Imitation or Imagination”, January 1985, pgs. 74
1986
Brouws, Jeff, Trains, “A Man and His Tower”, March 1984, pgs. 40-44
1975
Brouws, Jeff & Hill, Ronald C., Railroading West, Rail Graphics West, 80 pages, softbound 1975
Collections
Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Fogg Museum, Harvard University
Princeton University Art Museum
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Henry Art Museum, Seattle
Spencer Museum of Art
Brigham Young University Museum of Art
Pier 24, San Francisco
University of Maryland
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, Nevada
North Dakota Museum of Art
Margulies Collection, Miami
Berman Collection, Los Angeles
Microsoft
Pilara Foundation, San Francisco
Fannie Mae
Nash Editions
California Endowment
Brookings Institute
Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara
Rhode Island School of Design
Goldman-Sachs Corporate Collection, New York City
Fidelity Investment Corporation, New York City
Genentech, South San Francisco
Santa Barbara County Arts Commission, Santa Barbara
California Supreme Court, San Francisco
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP, New York City and London
West Collection
Esa-Pekka Salonen
Prentice and Paul Sack Collection, San Francisco
Ed Ruscha
Marion Post Wolcott
Jay DiBiaso, Miami
Sofia Coppola and Spike Jones
Rodrigo Prieto
Steven Rales
Robert Sobieszek
Robert Venturi, Philadelphia
John Stilgoe, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Conrad Levinson, FAIA
David Kahler, FAIA
Galeria Toni Tapies, Barcelona
Lehigh University
Indiana University Eskenazi Museum of Art
New Mexico Museum of Art
Special Collections (Books) for Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations
The Museum of Modern Art
The J. Paul Getty Museum
The Art Institute of Chicago
The George Eastman House
MIT Special Collections
Bibliotheque Nationale de France
UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Department of Special Collections
Awards
Railway and Locomotive Historical Society John H. White fellowship, 2013
Nominee for the Prix Pictet 2011
Nominee for the Prix Pictet 2010
BMW-Paris Photo Prize Shortlisted for 2008
The George and Constance Hilton Book Award from the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society
given for A Passion for Trains: The Railroad Photography of Richard Steinheimer 2005
Individual Artist Program Award from the Santa Barbara County Arts Commission 1996
Limited Edition Portfolios
Stereographs: The American Industrial Heritage Series, 2015
Coaling Towers, 2013
October 21, 1995, Needles, California, 2012
Storage Units, 2011
Twentynine Palms, 2010
Add to Cart (a collaboration with Reinhard Voigt), 2010
Best Buy: Fifteen photographs of the Franchised Landscape, 2009
Freight Cars, 2009
Black and White Drive-Ins Portfolio I 2008
Black and White Drive-Ins Portfolio II 2008
Black and White Drive-Ins Portfolio III 2008
Semiotics Vernaculus, 2007
Signs Without Signification, 2007
Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations, Portfolio II 2007
Partially Painted Pick-up Trucks, 2006
Drive-Ins, 2005
Farm Forms, 2003
Freshly Painted Houses, 2003
Twentysix Abandoned Gasoline Stations, Portfolio I 1997
Lectures / Visiting Artist
Lecture / Visiting Artist, UC Berkeley 2023 (with Alexander Craghead)
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Harvard Extension 2022 (with Rick Ribstein)
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Kenyon College 2019
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Kenyon College 2022
Panel discussion, And Now It’s Dark: American Night Photography,
Diffusion: Cardiff Photography Festival, Wales, 2015
Lecture, Some Vernacular Railroad Photographs,
Center for Railroad Photography and Art, Lake Forest College, May 2014
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Kenyon College 2011
Lecture, University of Toledo 2011
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Owens Community College 2011
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Texas State University, San Marco, Texas, 2011
Lecture / panel discussion, Discovering the Landscape, Texas University
Austin, Texas, 2011
Lecture, SVA, New York 2010
Lecture/ Visiting Artist, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York 2010
Lecture, Near the Tracks: The Railroad Landscape As Archeology,
Center for Railroad Photography and Art, Lake Forest College, March 2010
Lecture, ICP, New York, 2009
Lecture, It Don’t Exist: The Inner City Decimated by Sprawl, Society for Photographic Educators (SPE),
Annual National Conference, Dallas, Texas, 2009
Lecture / Visiting Artist, Kenyon College 2009
Lecture, Channeling Evans and Ruscha: Embracing the Everyday Across the American Cultural Landscape,
St. John Fisher College, Rochester, New York 2009
Lecture, School of Visual Arts, New York 2008
Lecture, Channeling Evans and Ruscha: Embracing the Everyday Across the American Cultural Landscape,
University of Nottingham, UK, 2008
Lecture, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 2008
Lecture, School of Visual Arts, New York 2007
Lecture, On Railroad Photography and Cultural Geography
Center for Railroad Photography and Art, Lake Forest College, March 2006
Lecture Approaching Nowhere: Examining America’s Cultural Landscape, Texas A&M, Commerce 2006
Lecture Approaching Nowhere: Examining America’s Cultural Landscape, San Jose State University 2006
Lecture Approaching Nowhere: Examining America’s Cultural Landscape, Nevada Museum of Art, Reno 2006
Lecture Approaching Nowhere: Examining America’s Cultural Landscape, Photo LA 2006
Lecture on A Passion for Trains: The Railroad Photography of Richard Steinheimer,
Steamtown National Historic Park, Scranton, Pennsylvania 2005
Lecture on A Passion for Trains: The Railroad Photography of Richard Steinheimer,
California State Railroad Museum, Sacramento, California 2004
Why The Night: Photography After Dark, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts 2003
Lecture, School of Visual Arts, New York 2001
Lecture, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego 2001
Lecture Inside the Live Reptile Tent, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2001
The Myth of Mobility, Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. 2000
The Myth of Mobility, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York 1998, 1999
Workshops Given
Visual Anthropology, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Lone Wolf, Oklahoma 2013
Visual Anthropology, Texas A&M at Commerce, Texas 2005
Visual Anthropology, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Lone Wolf, Oklahoma 2003
Visual Anthropology, Oklahoma Arts Institute, Lone Wolf, Oklahoma 2001
Long Range Focus: Developing Photographic Projects for Publication (with Wendy Burton Brouws),
MOPA/Grossmont College, San Diego 2
Radio, Film and Television Interviews
Approaching Nowhere, Multicultural Radio Broadcasting, interview with Gary Mercer, November 6, 2006
Wanderlust, Independent Film Channel, May 29, 2006, interview, 18 photographs and voice over
Off the Cuff with Dave Cronin, WFPL, Lexington, Kentucky, January 24, 2004, interview.
Bill Moyers NOW, PBS, February 21, 2003 photographs and voice over for Carnival work
NPR Morning Edition with Madeline Brand, August 8, 2001. Talking about carnival photos
and new book Inside the Live Reptile Tent.