About
Marcia Bricker Halperin, a lifelong Brooklynite, has been photographing the character and landscape of New York City since the 1970s.
A major theme of her work is humanistic portraits of people living their lives, often addressing key social issues: identity, racism, loneliness, family relations, as well as the joy of living life to its fullest, at any age.
She received a Master of Fine Arts from Brooklyn College and soon after had her first solo exhibition at the Midtown Y Gallery. In the late 1970s, she was active in the Photographers Forum, an organization that was a continuation of the 1940s Photo League, reflecting their humanistic and aesthetic concerns. She assisted with organizing their meetings and panels held at the New School, which featured photographers such as W. Eugene Smith and Roy DeCarava. She attended the evening photography class taught by Lisette Model and walked Ms. Model back to her Greenwich Village home after class.
From 1978 to 1980 she was employed by the CETA Artist’s Project under the auspices of the Cultural Council Foundation. As a member of the documentation team, her assignments included photographing the Soviet refugees and their introduction to American culture in Brighton Beach, photographing housing issues in Hell's Kitchen, and taking many of the photographs of Mierle Laderman Ukeles' iconic conceptual project, Touch Sanitation.
Her work has been exhibited at the Edward Hopper House Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the International Center of Photography, and is included in numerous collections.
Select Exhibitions
2023 Through My Lens: New York City in the 1970s, Brooklyn College Library
2023 Kibbitz & Nosh: NYCs Vanishing Cafeterias, Solo Exhibition, Edward Hopper House Museum, Nyack, NY
2023 Faces of Harlem, outdoor installation, Morningside Park, NYC
2020 NYCs Vanished Cafeterias, University of Michigan, Lane Hall Gallery
2018 The Invisible Jew, Detour Gallery Red Bank, New Jersey
2017 NY Times Lens Blog feature and Metropolitan section Album
2017 Spoke the Hub Works on the Wall, Brooklyn, solo exhibition, artist’s talk
2016 Queens Museum, photographic documentation included in the exhibition Maintenance Art of Mierle Laderman Ukeles
2016 Essex Street Market, Market Photos from the 1970s
2014 The Jew as the “Other”, Yiddish NY Festival, Abrazzo Interno Gallery
2008 Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition, Brooklyn Museum
2007 Diversity of Devotion photo-documentary project
2006 Open house NY photography exhibit
1982 Midtown Y Photo Gallery, 14th Street, NYC, solo exhibition
Recognition
2024 National Jewish Book Award
2023 PX3, Prix de la Photographie Paris, gold award for documentary book
2023 Lucie Foundation finalist, Open Call: The Portrait Project, Take Two
2012 BRIC Media Arts Fellowship
2009 NYS Council on the Arts/Department of Cultural Affairs Community Arts Regrant awardee
2007 "Adventures on a Tzitza String", official documentary selection, Coney Island Film Festival
2007 Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Film making, Brooklyn College Film Festival
2003 Bertelsmann Foundation Innovative Educator
1979 Voice Choice, Village Voice review by Fred McDarrah
Collections
Center for Brooklyn History, Marcia Bricker Photographs Collection, Brooklyn New York
Brooklyn Museum
City Lore Photo Archive
Walter and Naomi Rosenblum Collection
Daniel and Joyce Cowin Photography Collection
International Center of Photography
Photography Work Experience
CETA Artist’s Project, 1978-1980
Art and Photography instructor - Brooklyn College, Kingsborough Community College, and Educational Alliance Art School
NYC Department of Education, multimedia and technology
Photographer, Spoke the Hub Dancing