LEN JENSHEL  |  CURRICULUM VITAE

 

GRANTS:        

2015   National Geographic Expeditions Council Grant

2014   National Geographic Expeditions Council Grant

2003   New York State Council on the Arts

2002   Design Trust for Public Space (Photo Urbanism Grant)

1988   Graham Foundation for the Advancement in the Fine Arts

1980   John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship

1978   National Endowment for the Arts

1978   CAPS (Creative Arts Public Service), New York State Council on the Arts

 

SELECTED ONE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS:

National Geographic Society Museum, Washington, DC

     Mar, 2013     Gardens By Night

Joseph Bellows Gallery, La Jolla, CA

     Dec, 2009     On Ice

Museum of the City of New York, New York, NY

    Sep, 2009   The Edge of New York: NYC Waterfront

Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR  

   Sep, 2008    On The Line: Border Walls

Miami Dade College Gallery, Miami, FL

   Jan, 2006   On Ice

Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC    

   Mar, 2004   Aquarium

Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA    

   Jan, 2004   Aquarium

Klotz/Sirmon Gallery, New York, NY  

   Nov, 2003   Aquarium

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY   

   Oct, 2001   Charmed places  

G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA   

   Oct, 2000   Full Tank: An In Depth Look at Aquariums

Aspen Gallery of Photography, Aspen, CO    

   Mar, 1999   Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle WA     

   May, 1997   Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC    

   May, 1997   Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

Paul Kopeikin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA    

   Dec, 1996   Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, New Paltz, NY   

   Oct, 1996   Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

Yancey Richardson Gallery,  New York, NY

   Oct, 1995   Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

Yokohama Museum, Yokohama, Japan 

   Jul, 1993   Travels in the American West

Scheinbaum & Russek Gallery,  Santa Fe, NM    

   Aug, 1992   Travels in the American West

Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY 

   Mar, 1991   Unlimited Mileage: Travels in the American West

Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco, CA    

   Aug, 1989   Desert Photographs

Blue Sky Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts,  Portland, OR   

   Mar, 1989   Desert Photographs

Hudson River Museum,  Yonkers, NY    

   Dec, 1988   Charmed Places - Hudson River School Artists

Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY    

   Apr, 1988   Charmed Places - Hudson River School Artists

Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY    

   Nov, 1987   Desert Places

Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA    

   Apr, 1987   True Stories

Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY    

   Nov, 1986   Real Pictures from True Stories

Gibbes Art Museum, Charleston, SC    

   Apr, 1986   The Outer from the Inner

Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA    

   Sep, 1984   The Outer from the Inner

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL    

   Jan, 1984   Mansions: Era of Extravagance

International Center of Photography, New York, NY     

   Mar, 1983   Era of Extravagance

ARCO Center for the Visual Arts, Los Angeles, CA   

   Oct, 1982   Mansions in Public Trust

Thomas Segal Gallery, Boston, MA    

   Jun, 1982   A Show of Wealth

Galerie Rudolf Kicken, Cologne, Germany    

   Jun, 1980   Len Jenshel - Photographs

Castelli Graphics, New York, NY    

   Apr, 1980   Coastline Photographs

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

   Jan, 2026     Where Are We Now

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, NY

   Feb, 2022    New York, New Publics

Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

   Feb, 2020     Volcano! Mount St. Helens in Art

Moss Arts Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

   Jan, 2019     Arboreal

Museon, The Hague, Netherlands

     Jun, 2018     National Geographic / 50 Greatest Landscapes

Whatcom Museum, Seattle, WA (traveling exhibition)

   Nov, 2013     Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012

Annenberg Space for Photography, Los Angeles, CA

   Oct, 2013     The Power of Photography: National Geographic 125 Years

Beetles & Huxley Gallery, London, England

     Sep, 2013     National Geographic: Then and Now

Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

     Aug, 2013     Ordinary World

National Geographic Society Museum, Washington, DC (traveling exhibition)

     Oct, 2012     National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West

Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, NY

   Jan, 2012     New York In Color

IMPGEH (George Eastman House), Rochester, NY    

   Oct, 2011   The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the WM Hunt Collection

Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV    

   Oct, 2011  The Altered Landscapes: Photographs of a Changing Environment

Mexican Cultural Institute, Washington, DC

   Jun, 2011     Mexico Through the Lens of National Geographic

G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA   

   May, 2010     Blow Up: Homage to Mount St Helens

Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

   Dec, 2009     Beyond Place

Alan Klotz Gallery, New York, NY  

   Sep, 2009   Seeing the Hudson

Deutsche Bank Art Gallery, New York, NY

   Sep, 2009   Back To The Garden

Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA    

   Dec, 2005   Contemporary Desert Photography

IMPGEH (George Eastman House), Rochester, NY    

   Apr, 2004   Site Seeing: Photographic Excursions in Tourism

Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver, BC

   Apr, 2004   Altered Landscapes

Norsk Museum for Fotografi, Oslo, Norway    

   Nov, 2002   Altered Landscapes

Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC    

   Nov, 2002   On the Waterfront

Deutsche Bank Art Gallery, New York, NY

   May, 2001   The Mural as Muse

Alan Klotz Gallery, New York, NY  

   May, 1999   Down From Up: Views From On High

Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI    

   May, 1999   Under Construction

Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC    

   Dec, 1998   Icebergs

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN    

   Jan, 1998   Fotografs of Flowers

Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA    

   Sep, 1997   Under the Dark Cloth

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA    

   Sep, 1996   Crossing the Frontier: the Developing West

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY    

   Jun, 1996   Perpetual Mirage: Narratives of the Desert West

Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, NM    

   Apr, 1996    Truths and Trials: Color Photography Since 1975

Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, NY    

   Jul, 1995   H 2 O: Contemporary & Vintage Images of Water

National Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC    

   Oct, 1992   Between Home and Heaven

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA    

   May, 1991   Pop Goes America

Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX    

   Jan, 1990   Money Matters, History of Bank Architecture

National Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC    

   Mar, 1990   Money Matters, History of Bank Architecture

Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Quebec    

   Jun, 1990   Money Matters, History of Bank Architecture

All Union Center of Photography, Moscow, USSR 

   Mar, 1989   American Photography in USSR          

Lvov Museum of Ukrainian Art, Lvov, USSR    

   Jan, 1989   American Photography in USSR

Jinan Art Museum, Jinan, Shandong Province, China    

   Aug, 1988   Current Trends in American Photography  

The Cultural Palace, Canton, China    

   Jul, 1988   Current Trends in American Photography  

Fotografisk Galleri, Copenhagen, Denmark    

   Jun, 1988   The New Color: Ten American Photographers

Museet  Fotokunst, Odense, Denmark  

   Apr, 1988   The New Color: Ten American Photographers

Fotografi 87 Festival, Oslo, Norway    

   Jan, 1988   The New Color: Ten American Photographers

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA    

   Jan, 1988   Road & Roadside

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL    

   Jun, 1987   Road & Roadside

Koln Messe Photokina, Cologne, Germany    

   Sep, 1986   Photokina

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA    

   Sep, 1985   Portraits & Architecture

Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL    

   Sep, 1985   New Color/New Work

International Center of Photography, New York, NY    

   Nov, 1983   High Light: The Mountain in Photography

Addison Gallery American Art, Andover, MA 

   Sep, 1982   Place: New England Perambulations

IMPGEH (George Eastman House), Rochester, NY    

   Jul, 1982   History of Color Photography

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC    

   Apr, 1982   History of Color Photography

Cooper-Hewitt Museum, New York, NY    

   Jun, 1982   The Column - Structure and Ornament

International Center of Photography, New York, NY    

   Oct, 1981   The New Color Photography

ICA (Institute of Contemporary Arts), London, England    

   Sep, 1981  New American Color Photography

Castelli Graphics, New York, NY     

   Jul, 1981   Love is Blind

 

MONOGRAPHS:

Wise Trees

     Photographs by Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

        Abrams, New York, NY 2017    

Aquarium  

   Photographs by Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

      Aperture, New York, NY 2003

Art and Landscape in Charleston and the Low Country 

   Text by John Beardsley / Photographs by Len Jenshel

      Spacemaker Press, Washington, DC & Cambridge, MA 1998

Hot Spots: America's Volcanic Landscape

   Photographs by Diane Cook & Len Jenshel

      Bulfinch Press, Little Brown & Co., Boston, MA 1996

Travels in the American West / Photographers at Work

      Photographs by Len Jenshel

   Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC 1992

Charmed Places: Hudson River School Artists & Their Homes

   Text by Sandra Phillips / Photographs by Len Jenshel

      Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY 1988

True Stories

     Photographs by Len Jenshel, David Byrne, William Eggleston

        Viking Penguin, New York, NY 1986

 

SELECTED COLLECTIONS:  

Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA

Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY

Bronx Museum of Art, Bronx, NY

Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal, Canada

Carnegie Institute, Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA

Centro Cultura Arte Contemporanio, Mexico City, Mexico

Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA

Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA

Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY

J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA

Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, SC

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, New York, NY

Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH

Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX

IMPGEH (International Museum Photography George Eastman House, Rochester, NY

International Center of Photography, New York, NY

Israeli Museum, Jerusalem, Israel

Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE

Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MN

MOSS ARTS CENTER, VIRGINIA TECH, BLACKSBURG, VA

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA

National Museum, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO

Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV

Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA

Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, CA

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA

Princeton Art Museum, Princeton, NJ

Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR

RISD Museum, Providence, RI

Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis, MO

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

Santa Fe Art Museum, Santa Fe, NM

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, NY

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA

 

COMMISSIONS:   

Spoleto USA, Charleston, SC (John Beardsley)

   Human / Nature   1997

Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (Anne Tucker)

   History of Bank Architecture   1986-87

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY (Sandra S. Phillips)

  Hudson River School Artists   1984-87

David Byrne   1986

  True Stories (book and feature movie)

 

EDUCATION:   

The Cooper Union, New York, NY      BFA 1975

 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

(Items in BOLD refer to books)

 

Re-envisioning Histories of American Art

     Jami Powell and Michael Hartman, University of Washington Press, 2025

Invisible Wonders: Photographs of the Hidden World

   Anand Varma, National Geographic, 2023, pgs 144,145

Wild Visions: Wilderness As Image and Idea

   Ben A. Minter, Mark Klett, Stephen J. Pyne, Yale University Press 2022, pg 101

Historic Artists’ Homes & Studios

    Valerie A. Balint, Princeton Architectural Press, 2020, pg 97

New York Times / Lens   Mar 15, 2018

   “Revealing the Garden’s Secrets,” by Jordan G. Teicher

BuchMarkt     Jan 11,2018

   Tree Book, “Das Wissen der Bäume” by Christin Nase

Mein Fernweh     Jan 2, 2018

   “Das Wissen der Bäume,” Anbetungswürdig Riesen

Daily Mail.com, UK     Dec 12, 2017     “Amazing Images of the

   Most Extraordinary Trees in the World” by Jennifer Newton

Smithsonian     Dec 1, 2017

   “Ten Best Travel Books of 2017” by Anna Diamond

Ruhr Nachrichten      Nov 25, 2017

   “Das Wissen der Bäume” by Elke Terweg

Ouest, France     Nov 15, 2017     “Huit arbres incroyables qui

   ont traversé l’Histoire” by Celine Deluzarche

BBC World Service / “Outlook”     Nov 13, 2017

   “Taking pictures of trees with stories to tell”

Hamburger Morgenpost     Nov 12, 2017

   “Ein Freund, der Baum”

Bild Am Sonntag, Berlin     Oct 12, 2017

   “Diese Baume blattern in der Geschichte”

The Photographer in the Garden    Jamie Allen & Sarah McNear  

Aperture / George Eastman Museum, 2018

L.A. Times     Oct 19, 2017     “Book WISE TREES Showcases

   Ancient Trees Around the World” by Agatha French

Oklahoma Review     Oct 15, 2017

     “Photography Book Evokes Poetr” by Ed Godfrey

Outdoor Photography, UK     Oct 1, 2017

   “Out There” by David Plummer

Night Vision: Magical Photographs of Life After Dark

   Susan Tyler Hitchcock / Foreword by Diane Cook & Len Jenshel,

      National Geographic, Washington, DC  2017, Pgs. 16,19,118-119,223,388-389

Picturing America’s National Parks

   Jamie M. Allen     Aperture / George Eastman Museum, 2016

National Geographic Online Photo Gallery, Apr 22, 2016

   “Ten Remarkable Trees” by Cathy Newman

Vanishing Ice: Alpine and Polar Landscapes in Art, 1775-2012

   Barbara Matilsky, Whatcom Museum, 2013

Dawn to Dark Photographs: The Magic of Light 

National Geographic Society, Washington, DC  2013

National Public Radio / The Picture Show     Feb 28, 2013

   “Midnight in the Garden of Long Exposures” by Claire O’Neill

New York In Color  

   Bob Shamis, Harry N. Abrams, 2012

National Geographic Greatest Photographs of the American West

   James C. McNutt, National Geographic, 2012

Conde Nast Traveler: Photographs, 25th Anniversary Intro by Luc Sante

   Assouline Publishing, New York, NY 2012,  pgs. 50-51, 152-153 

Photography: Eighth Edition by Barbara London

   Pearson/Prentice Hall 2012   pg. 3

Digital Photo Pro    Nov 16, 2011  

   “Diane Cook and Len Jenshel: Master of Doubling Up” by Russel Hart

The Altered Landscape: Photographs of a Changing Environment  

   Ann Wolfe, Lucy Lippard, Geoff Manaugh, W.J.T. Mitchell, Skira Rizzoli, 2011

On Earth Magazine   Spring, 2010

   “Water’s Edge” by Robert Sullivan

The San Diego Union Tribune     Jan 14, 2010

   “Photography: Stone-cold Beauty” by Robert L. Pincus

Photo District News     Jan, 2010

   “On Ice / Our Picks of the Month

New York Times / Lens     Oct 27, 2009

   “At The City’s Edg” by Niko Koppel  

National Public Radio / The Picture Show     Sep 17, 2009

   “New York’s Forgotten Shoreline” by Claire O’Neill

Harper’s Magazine     Apr, 2009

   “Graveyard of Ships: Photographs of Staten Island”

Visions of Paradise   By Bronwen Latimer    

   National Geographic Society, 2008

National Geographic Magazine     May, 2007

   “Our Wall” by Charles Bowden    pgs 116-138

The New York Times    Apr 16, 2006

   “On the Waterfront” by Ben Gibberd  

French GEO Magazine     Aug, 2005

   “La Mer en Cinemascope: Aquariums” by Ute Eberle

Photography Speaks, 150 Photographers on their Art

   Brooks Johnson, Aperture, 2004,  pgs 288,289

Contemporary Photography and the Garden – Deceits and Fantasies  

   Thomas Paden, Harry N. Abrams, 2004    

The Washington Post    Mar 25, 2004

   “Life Through A Fisheye Lens” by Jessica Dawson   pg C5

Photo District News    Mar, 2004    EXPOSURES

   “Underwater Travels in Hyperreality” by Edgar Beem   pg 120

AG Magazine   Jan, 2004

   “Aquarium: Photographs by Diane Cook & Len Jenshel”

The New Yorker Magazine   11/24/2003    

   “Goings on About Town / Photography”   pg 25

National Geographic Adventure Magazine   Oct, 2003

   “Totally Tanked”   pg 46

Audubon Magazine   Sep, 2003    

   “The Age of Aquarium”   pg 68

Pasatiempo     Aug 1-7, 2003    

   “The Cultural Landscape” by Teri Thomson Randall  pg 16

Landscape Architecture Magazine   Feb, 2003

   “Sharp Focus, Blurred Boundaries” by Kim Sorvig   pg 76 

The Seattle Times   Nov 10, 2000

   “Through the Looking Glass” by Caitlin Cleary

Life Magazine    Oct, 1999

   “Great Pictures of the Century”

The Altered Landscape by Patricia Nelson Limerick, Dave Hickey,

   & Thomas W. Southall, Nevada Museum of Art, 1999

Art & Antiques Magazine   Sep, 1998    

   “Landscapes in Flux” by Andrew Long   pg 74

American Photo    Jan/Feb, 1997    

   “Best Books of 1996” by Carol Squiers   pgs 84, 85

Crossing the Frontier: Photographs of the Developing West 

   Sandra S. Phillips, San Francisco Museum Modern Art, 1996

DoubleTake / Fall 1996    

   “Hot Spots: Americas Volcanic Landscape”

New York Magazine   11/4/1996

   “Art” by Carol Diehl     Pg 105

The Los Angeles Times   12/1/1996   

   “Finding a Vent for their Creativity” by Christine McKenna  Pg 63

The New Yorker Magazine   11/27/1995    

   “Goings on About Town”

The New York Times     9/10/1995    

   “The New Season” by Vicki Goldberg

Tradition and the Unpredictable  by Ann W. Tucker, Charles Traub,

   Vince Aletti, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1994

Between Home and Heaven  by Merry A. Forresta  

   National Museum, Smithsonian Inst, Washington, DC 1992

Newsweek Magazine   6/1/1992    

   “The Far side of Eden” by Peter Plagens   pg 66

Photograph Quarterly    Sep, 1991

   “Len Jenshel, Yancey Richardson Gallery”   pg 138

The Village Voice     4/23/1991    

   “Voice Choices” by Vince Aletti

American Photo     Sep/Oct, 1990    

   “The New View of Nature” by Carol Squiers    pg 54

Aperture / Beyond Wilderness

   “Out of the Garden”  1990

Money Matters: A Critical Look at Bank Architecture by Anne Tucker

   & Brendan Gill, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1990

ARTnews     Apr, 1988    

   “Len Jenshel at Laurence Miller Gallery” by Richard Woodward   pg 152

American Independents  by Sally Eauclaire

   Abbeville Press, New York, NY, 1987

ARTnews     Sep, 1987    

   “Getting Close to Gotham” by Marvin Heiferman & Carol Kismaric   pg 107

True Stories by David Byrne

   Viking Penguin, New York, NY 1986

San Francisco Observed by Ruth Silverman

   Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1986    pg 111

United Magazine    Feb, 1986    

   “Steichen In the Year 2000” by Dorianne Beyer   pg 55

New Color - New Work by Sally Eauclaire

   Abbeville Press, New York, NY 1984

Aperture

   “Natural Formalism”   1984

The New York Times     3/13/1983    

   “In the Arts: Critics Choice” by Andy Grundberg

Camera Arts     Mar/Apr, 1982    

   “A Show of Wealth” by Richard Snow    pg 74

The New Color Photography by Sally Eauclaire

    Abbeville Press, New York, NY 1981

Colliers Encyclopedia   “Masterpieces of Color Photography”

    by Gail Buckland    pg 760

Art in America     Jan, 1982   

   “Photography Raising a Hue: The New Color” by Pepe Karmel   pg 27

ARTnews     Jan, 1981    

   “A Decisive Moment” by Stephen Frankel   pg 94

Art in America     Oct, 1980    

   “Len Jenshel at Castelli Graphics” by Pepe Karmel   pg 133

Soho News     9/17-23/1980

   “Len Jenshel” by Andy Grundberg   pg 42

Modern Photography Magazine   Jun, 1980  

   “Currents: American Photography Today” by Andy Grundberg  pg 84

PrintLetter No, 25    Jan/Feb 1980

   New York Market Trends   pg 4

Newsweek Magazine   3/19/1979    

   “The Young Romantics” by Douglas Davis   pg 100

The Village Voice   12/18/1978  

   “Voice Vanguard” by Ben Lifson   pg 54

The Village Voice   7/31/1978  

   “Still Life With Subsidy” by Ben Lifson   pg 54