James Gehrt

EDUCATION

  • Master of Library & Information Science, 2014 – Simmons College GSLIS, Boston, MA

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, 1991 – Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD), Savannah, GA

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

  • Adjunct Instructor, Photographic Archives (LIS471) – Simmons University, Boston, MA (2017–Present)

  • Corporate Archivist – MassMutual, Springfield, MA

AWARDS & HONORS

  • Visiting Artist Award – University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2016

  • Dr. Estelle Jussim Award – Simmons College, 2015

SELECTED TALKS & LECTURES

  • Gallery Talk – A Simple Circle, Photographic Resource Center (PRC Boston), Feb 3, 2025

  • Gallery Talk – A Simple Circle, Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, Springfield Technical Community College, Mar 2024

  • Workshop Leader – “Identifying 19th Century Photographic Processes” (tintypes, albumen prints, salted‑paper prints), hosted via Digital Commonwealth (Zoom), October 13, 2022

  • Keynote Speaker – “Vincent D’Addario: A Life in Photography,” Holyoke Public Library, 2019

  • Guest Lecturer – “The Daguerreotype & Beyond,” Martha Ackmann Summer Research Course, Mount Holyoke College, 2015

  • Guest Lecturer – “The Photographic Archive,” Asa Kinney Project, Simmons College, 2014

  • Lecturer – “A Medium of Change,” Mount Holyoke College Archives, 2012

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

  • Solo Exhibition: A Simple Circle, Photographic Resource Center (PRC Boston) at VanDernoot Gallery, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA — Feb 3–Mar 16, 2025 (prcboston.org)

  • Solo Exhibition: A Simple Circle, Amy H. Carberry Fine Arts Gallery, Springfield Technical Community College, Mar–Apr 2024

  • Solo Exhibition: A Simple Circle, The Burnett Gallery, Amherst, MA, Dec 2023

  • Co‑Curator: The Great Fires of Mount Holyoke College, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, 2019

  • Solo Exhibition / Artist in Residence: The Weight of Air, Hampden Gallery, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Sept 2016

  • Co‑Curator: The Recovered History of Prospect Hill, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, 2016

  • Solo Exhibition: The Weight of Air, Western New England College, Apr 2017

  • Group Exhibition: Four Voices in Black and White, Easthampton City Arts Gallery, Oct 2017

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • Feeney, Mark, “Round and round they go: At the PRC, ‘A Simple Circle’ pays homage to the beginnings of popular photography”, Boston Globe, Feb 21 2025. (bostonglobe.com)

  • Ackmann, M., “Emily Dickinson’s White Dress,” The Paris Review, Feb 25 2020 (includes text by Gehrt)

  • Gehrt, J., Harmon, J., Lee, A., The Weight of Air, Front Porch Editions, Easthampton, MA, 2016

  • Gehrt, J., Source, Front Porch Editions, Easthampton, MA, 2014 (Collected by Mortimer Rare Book Room, Smith College)

  • Gehrt, J., Chronology, Front Porch Editions, Easthampton, MA, 2012

  • Gehrt, J., Lapse, Front Porch Editions, Easthampton, MA, 2010

RECENT PROJECTS & AREAS OF PRACTICE

  • Commissioned Photography Installation – 10 Post Office Square, Boston, MA, November 2025

  • The Seat of the Muses – Ongoing project examining museums as layered spaces; explores how objects and spaces evolve in meaning across time, and how light and context shape perception. Portfolios include images taken in major museums, showing the relationship between objects and the spaces that hold them.

  • A Simple Circle – Photography book and series inspired by circular prints of the 1880s and the democratization of photography, reflecting on the ways photography shapes perception and connects viewers to historical forms.

TECHNICAL / PROCESS SKILLS

  • Historic photographic processes, large format cameras

  • Digital photography, image editing, archival workflows

  • Archival research and photographic conservation context

  • Installation and exhibition preparation

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • Society of American Archivists

CONTACT

James Gehrt
73 Long Plain Road, Leverett, MA 01054
jamesgehrt@gmail.com · www.jamesgehrtphoto.com