Dawoud Bey

(American, born 1953)

Dawoud Bey's artworks explore and challenge stereotypical images of African Americans and other marginalized groups, using documentary style photographic techniques. In his own words, "We often speak of community in a singular way when in fact communities are complex social structures, often populated by a wide range of people from various racial, cultural, and socio-economic backgrounds."

Dawoud Bey was born in Queens, New York. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography from Empire State College in upstate New York in 1990, and a Master of Fine Arts degree at Yale University in Connecticut. He is currently a professor of photography at Columbia College in Chicago, Illinois.