Solo Exhibitions
2020: North Portland Polaroids (outdoor exhibit) at St. Johns Plaza, Portland, Oregon
2015: Celebrating St. Johns (social practice exhibit of North Portland Polaroids) St. Johns, Portland, Oregon
2014: The West Behind Us, Buckley Center, University of Portland, Oregon
2013: North Portland Polaroids at LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, Oregon
2012: North Portland Polaroids at Blue Sky, Ampersand and Proper Eats, Portland, Oregon
2011: 45th Parallel at Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Oregon
2011: One Summer Across America at Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont
2008: Rabbit at Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Oregon
2007: Street Muggings at Camerawork Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2006: Recent Composites at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
2005: Shifting Perspectives at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia
2005: One Summer Across America at Photography Center of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
2004: Rabbit at Kopala Gallery, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
2000: From My Car Window at The Upstairs Gallery, Atlanta, Ga. (exhibited in 2001 at New Media Institute, UGA in Athens, Ga.)
1998: Silent Prayers at The West Hill Concept Union, Decatur, Georgia
1996: Dreams, Despair and the Coca-Cola Olympic Circus at New.Vision.Space, Atlanta, Georgia
1994: Homeless in Atlanta at The Roxy, Atlanta, Georgia
Selected Group Exhibitions & Collaborations
2020: Reflections of Our Time: Acquisitions 1993-2019 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Serbia
2020: Watch Your Step at Buckley Center, University of Portland, Oregon
2019: The Pacific Northwest 40 at LightBox Photographic Gallery, Astoria, Oregon
2016: St. Johns Speaks, Portland, Oregon (collaboration with St. Johns Main Street and Roosevelt H.S.)
2007-16: Pacific Northwest Photography Drawers at Blue Sky, Portland, Oregon (selected annually)
2014-15: Place: Framing the Oregon Landscape at the Oregon History Museum, Portland, Oregon
2014: INFOCUS Juried Exhibition of Self-Published Photobooks at the Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, Arizona
2013: LightLeak 101 at Camerawork Gallery, Portland, Oregon
2012: Strangers in a Strange Land at the Streff Gallery at Marylhurst University, Portland, Oregon
2011-12: Through the Looking Glass at Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
2011: Art Faculty Biennial at Archer Gallery of Clark College, Vancouver, Washington
2010: Out of the Drawers: ArtBar Gallery and Portland Mayor’s office in City Hall, Portland, Oregon
2010: The Shape of Time at The Oregon Jewish Museum, Portland, Oregon
2010: LightLeak at Lightbox, Astoria, Oregon
2009: MOCA GA Collects: The Photographic Image at Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta
2009: Art Faculty Biennial at Archer Gallery of Clark College, Vancouver, Washington
2008: LightLeak Group Show at Albina Press, Portland, Oregon
2007: Northwest Film Center screening of New York at the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Oregon
2007: Inside Out at Buckley Center, University of Portland, Portland, Oregon
2006: LightLeak at Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Oregon
2007: Neither Here Nor There: Perspectives on Homelessness at ATHICA, Athens, Georgia
2005: As they see it at Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia
2004: Untitled as Yet: Yugoslav Biennial of Young Artists, Serbia and Montenegro
2004: So Atlanta: Artists Respond to the Contemporary City at The Contemporary, Atlanta, Georgia
2003: Kolonija Kalenic at Open Space Museum, Serbia (video projection)
2003: Product: Comments on Consumer Culture at ATHICA, Athens, Georgia
2002: Telling It Like It Is, at Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia
2002: Crossover at Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Serbia
2000: 6 Characters in Search of an Author, Synchronicity Performance Group, Atlanta (set designer)
2000: One People Connect at Hastings Seed Factory, Atlanta, Georgia
1999: Five Photographers / Five Perspectives. ArtWalk at Lenox Square, Atlanta, Georgia
1999: Nexus Biennial, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, Georgia (video installation piece)
1999: Cuba, New York and Conyers at Atlanta Photography Group Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
1999: Hope, Atlanta, Georgia (documentary video about people affected by HIV, featuring more than 100 still images by Abrahamson)
1998: Marisol, Synchronicity Performance Group, Atlanta, Georgia (still and film projections)
1998: Cosmopolitan Concrete Chaos …experience the art of Fairlie Poplar, Atlanta, Georgia
1998: Atlanta Film and Video Festival (screening of video Dreams & Despair), Atlanta, Georgia
1997: I am the Matador, I am the Bull at The Backdrop Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia
Books & Catalogues
2020: Rabbit, Portland, Oregon (self-published, limited edition monograph, with numerous hand-finished inserts and captions)
2014: The West Behind Us, Portland, Oregon (photos by Abrahamson, text by Lisa Wells; self-pubished)
2013: North Portland Polaroids, Portland, Oregon (limited edition monograph, self-published)
2012: North Portland Polaroids, Portland, Oregon (limited edition monograph, published by Ampersand Vintage)
2010: Pacific Northwest Postcards, Portland, Oregon (limited edition, handmade artist’s book)
2009: North Cascades Walkabout, Portland, Oregon (limited edition, handmade artist’s book)
2008: Rabbit, Portland, Oregon (self-published monograph)
2005: One Summer Across America (monograph, with text by Robert Frank and Thomas Southall), Serbia and Montenegro
2004: Untitled as Yet: Yugoslav Biennial of Young Artists (exhibition catalogue), Serbia and Montenegro
2003: Kolonija Kalenic (exhibition catalogue), Serbia and Montenegro
2002: Crossover (exhibition catalogue), Serbia and Montenegro
2000: From my car window(exhibition catalogue, with essay by Donald Keyes), Atlanta, Georgia
2000: One People Connect (exhibition catalogue), Atlanta, Georgia
Collections
Photographic prints by Abrahamson are in the following collections:
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro
Harry Ransom Center, Austin, Texas
Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia
Oregon Jewish Museum, Portland, Oregon
RACC Portable Works & Visual Chronicle Collections of Portland, Oregon
University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Paul R. Jones Collection, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Fort Scott Community College, Fort Scott, Kansas
Bunnen Collection, Atlanta, Georgia
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP, Atlanta, Georgia
Abrahamson’s fine art photo books are in the following research library collections:
Museum of Modern Art, New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
International Center of Photography, New York
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, California
Amon Carter Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, Georgia
University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon
Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont
Articles & Reviews
On the Go with Joe with St. Johns Photographer Bobby Abrahamson, KPTV Fox 12, September 23, 2020
Local photographer documents historic St. Johns community, More Good Day Oregon, KPTV Fox 12, August 19, 2015
Humans of St. Johns, Street portraits of North Portlanders bring the neighborhood together, The Oregonian, August 16, 2015
St Johns Photography Exhibit Showcases the Many Faces of the Neighborhood, Portland Monthly, Fiona McCann, July 30, 2015
Refletions on a Dirty Dog, The Portland Mercury, Jan 14-20, 2015
On the Bluff, Portland Magazine, Winter 2014
Creating Artist’s Books, Lenscratch, Rebecca Senf, December 9, 2014
Riding the Dirty Dog; A Love Song to the Greyhound Underworld, VICE magazine, December 2013
Bobby Abrahamson, Julia Dolan and Myles Haselhorst on Art Focus, KBOO radio interview, July 10, 2012
A Local Photographer’s Unique Project, More Good Day Oregon, KPTV Fox 12, July 3, 2012
St Johns photographer releases book, holds opening, The Oregonian, Casey Parks, June 26, 2012
On the Streets of St. Johns, The Oregonian, Casey Parks, December 30, 2011
The 45th Parallel, Oregon Public Broadcasting’s “Think Out Loud,” November 17, 2011
Q&A: Bobby Abrahamson, Willamette Week, TJ Norris, November 16, 2011
A Fresh Repository of Memories: Oregon Jewish Museum, The Oregonian, Bob Hicks, Jan. 1, 2010
Open Meadows Photos on Display, The Skanner, July 2, 2009
”Rabbit” is Quest, The Oregonian, Brian Libby, March 7, 2008
Shows of Note, The Oregonian, D.K. Row, June 15, 2007
Artists Capture City’s Richness, The Atlanta Daily World, May 5-11, 2005
Heart of America seen with candid eye, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jerry Cullum, April 14, 2005
When Worlds Collide, Creative Loafing, Felicia Feaster,April 7-13, 2005
From the Artists Studio, The Wave, Susan Hartenstein, April 8, 2005
Sharing His Passion: Bobby Abrahamson’s camera helps him blend teaching & art, Atlanta
Jewish Times, Suzi Brozman, April 1, 2005
Atlanta Photographer Teaches the Homeless, The Sunday Paper, Stephanie Ramage, Feb.13-19, 2005
Outsider Art, Creative Loafing, Andisheh Nouraee, December 16-22, 2004
Changes Afoot, Creative Loafing, Felicia Feaster, December 9-15, 2004
Americans are teaching us again, 24 Hours,Teona Gaparidze, June 8, 2004
American Messages in Kopala gallery, Morning Newspaper, Mai Zezadze, June 8, 2004
International Festival of Arts in Tbilisi: A diary of GIFT, The Messenger, Nino Gvalia, June 15
Product Placement: Product as art; art as product, Creative Loafing, Felicia Feaster, May 14-20, 2003
Chasing America, Spot, Fall 2001/Winter 2002
Blow Up: Frames from an obsessive photographer, Atlanta Press, Christina Kline, Feb. 11-17, 2000
Drive-by shooting, Creative Loafing, Felicia Feaster, February 5, 2000
View from a Car Window, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Steve Dollar, January 16, 2000
Drive By Shooting, Atlanta Jewish Times, Richard Lufrano, January 14, 2000
1998: After the Circus: Bobby Abrahamson in Latin America, Creative Loafing, Cathy Byrd, June 27, 1998
Silent Moments of Magic, Poets, Artists & Madmen, Rebecca Poyner Burns, June 5-11, 1998
Silence Speaks Volumes, Atlanta Jewish Times, Susan Bernstein, June 5, 1998
Sucking up that Olympic feel, Phoenix, Shanna Shahid, October 23, 1996
Revisit Olympics in one artist’s extravaganza, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution., J. Cullum, Oct.18, 1996
Circus Circus, Creative Loafing, Cathy Byrd, October 12, 1996
Taking note of agony, ecstasy, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bo Emerson, April 22, 1996
Photography & Media Instructor
2016: St. Johns Main Street participatory photography project with Roosevelt High School’s Urban Griots, Portland, Oregon
2013-present: Right Brain Initiative teaching artist in public schools, Portland, Oregon
2008-present: Clark College, Portland, Oregon
2006-17: Newspace Center for Photography, Portland, Oregon
2006-17: Saturday Academy, Portland, Oregon
2007-12: Mount Hood Community College, Portland, Oregon
2006-12: Media, Arts & Technology Institute, partnering with local middle schools in Portland, Oregon
2007-10: Oregon College of Art and Craft, Portland, Oregon
2006-10: Pacific Northwest College or Art, Portland, Oregon
2006-08: Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
2007-08: University of Portland, Portland, Oregon
2007: Renaissance Arts Academy - Marshall High School, Portland, Oregon
2006-07: Arbor School of Arts & Sciences (mentor for student’s yearlong senior project), Portland, Oregon
2006: Caldera, Sisters & Portland, Oregon
2005-06: P:EAR, Portland, Oregon
2005-06: Our Voices - The Pangaea Project, Portland, Oregon
2005-06: Northwest Academy, Portland, Oregon
2005-06: Kellogg Middle School, Portland, Oregon
2005: The Bridge, Atlanta, Georgia
2004-05: Our Voices - Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, Atlanta, Georgia
2004: The Alfred and Adele Davis Academy, Atlanta, Georgia
2004: Studio Sepia, Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
2004: Education Alliance at School of the Future, New York
2004: International Center of Photography, New York
2003: Rockaway Artist Alliance, Rockaway, New York
2002: The Showcase School of Photography, Atlanta, Georgia
2002: Georgia Journalism Academy - Georgia Scholastic Press Association, Athens, Georgia
2000-01: University of Georgia, Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication, Athens, Georgia
2000: Journalism Fall Workshop: Georgia Scholastic Press Association - Athens, Georgia
1997-99: Camp Wannaklot: Hemophilia of Georgia, Camp Breathe Easy: American Lung Association - Rutledge, Georgia
1995: Camp Isabella Freedman - Falls Village, Connecticut
Professional Photographer
1988-present: Freelance photographer, clients include TIME, FORTUNE, US News & World Report, The New York Times, VICE, The Portland Mercury, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and the advertising firm Wieden & Kennedy
2005: Personal assistant to photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank - New York
1988-93: Staff photographer at The Dothan Eagle - Dothan, Alabama; Douglas County Sentinel - Douglasville, Georgia; The Athens Observer - Athens, Georgia; and The Red and Black - Athens, Georgia
Education & Internships
2003-05: Master of Arts, Media Studies, New School University - New York
2004: Literacy Through Photography workshop, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, (workshop held at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta)
2002: Graduate course in media literacy education at Appalachian State University - Boone, North Carolina
1994-95: International Center of Photography one-year certificate program in photojournalism; interned for photojournalists Eugene Richards & James Nachtwey at Magnum agency - New York
1984-88: Bachelor of Arts, History, University of Georgia - Athens, Georgia
Grants, Awards, Panels & Residencies
2005-present: Blue Sky Gallery exhibition committee member
2013: Visiting Lecturer at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee
2011: Visiting Lecturer at Johnson State College, Johnson, Vermont
2011: Regional Arts and Culture Council Project Grant, collaborating artist with writer Lisa Wells
2010: The Best Books of 2009: North Cascades Walkabout selected by Photo-Eye Magazine
2010: Society for Photographic Education Northwest Conference panelist, photo-educators panel
2009: Regional Arts and Culture Council Project Grant panelist, reviewed project grants applications
2008-09: Caldera Visiting Artist
2007: Caldera Artist Residency Retreat
2006: Puffin Foundation grant for Our Voices - Pangaea Project
2004: Lubo Fund grant for Our Voices - Metro Atlanta Task Force project
2004: US Department of State cultural affairs grant for teaching and exhibiting in the Republic of Georgia
1999: Communicators Award for Hope documentary about HIV/AIDS
1994: Gordon Parks Photography Competition, Third Place
1993: Gordon Parks Photography Competition, Honorable Mention
References available upon request.