The photography area is an integral part of the department of Art & Art History on both the undergraduate and graduate levels. We have served many undergraduate students majoring in a wide range of disciplines including film and media, biology, anthropology, political science and many others. We aim at fluency across media boundaries, both within and beyond the department. We also serve an especially large number of studio art students from the painting and combined media areas.
Mark Feldstein, a former student of Robert Motherwell, started the undergraduate photography area in the 1970’s and later, Roy DeCarava introduced the subject to the MFA program. The photography area has continued to carry on the Art & Art History department’s tradition of hiring working artists who share their professional knowledge with students across a variety of disciplines. All full-time and adjunct faculty frequently exhibit and publish their work and are engaged with contemporary issues.
The Undergraduate Photography area is located on the 11th Floor of Hunter North
For Course Descriptions visit here
Full Time Faculty
Reiner Leist, Professor
rleist.hunter@gmail.com
Adjunct Faculty
Christina Freeman Adjunct Assist. Prof., cfreema@hunter.cuny.edu
Julio Grinblatt Adjunct Assist. Prof., jgrinbla@hunter.cuny.edu
Virginia Inés Vergara Adjunct Assist. Prof., vvergar@hunter.cuny.edu
Summer 2023
05/30/2023 – 07/12/2023
Principles of Photography (Art CR 271)
Monday / Wednesday
11:40AM to 3:50PM
Fall 2023
08/25/2023 – 12/20/2023
Principles of Photography (Art CR 271)
T 5:35-9:15 PM Grinblatt
W 9:10AM-12:50PM Leist
W 1:10-4:40 PM Grinblatt
TH 1:10-4:50 PM Vergara
Special Projects: Alternative Photographic Processes (Art CR 360)
Sec 001 TH 5:35-8:15 PM Freeman
Advanced Photography (Art CR 372)
Sec 001 W 9:10AM-12:50PM Leist
Photography Area Staff


Photographer-in-Residence (2016-2022)
Hiram Maristany was born in El Barrio and still lives in the same neighborhood he loves. Hiram came of age in the 1960’s, when young Puerto Ricans, born and raised in New York’s barrios, asserted a new, New York Puerto Rican identity. Inspired by the Cuban Revolution and the Chicano, Civil Rights, and the Black Power movements, these young people formed new political organizations to revolutionize American society and new arts organizations to spotlight their unique vision of the world. They insisted that their voices be heard, their art work exhibited, their history saved, and their identity not only acknowledged, but celebrated.
PRESS: “What Hiram Maristany Saw Looking Through The Lens At El Barrio”
The Photographers Collective
The Photographers Collective, founded in 2014, seeks to encourage the growth of emerging photographers, artists, and thinkers at Hunter College. We aim to supplement Hunter College’s photography curriculum through technical workshops, artist talks, a biannual publication, group shows, and critical conversation about photography. Simultaneously, we offer a platform from which to cultivate community, learning, and creativity among students. We encourage our members to collaborate and exchange ideas, offer feedback about each other’s work, and focus their ability to use the camera to engage with their surroundings. With the permission of the Art Department, the Photographers Collective has been fortunate enough to utilize the wall space along the 11th floor of Hunter North to showcase the photography of the students of Hunter College. The Photographers Collective is an organization funded by Hunter College but run entirely by students.
photographerscollective.hc@gmail.com