Nan Brown
Nan Brown
American, 1952–2013
Person TypePerson
American, born England, 1831–1913
American, 1914–1997
Santa Clara Pueblo/Kha’p’o Owingeh, born 1983
BiographyNan Brown picked up a first camera, a Leica with a fixed lens, in 1970. In San Francisco she worked nights, but it was her daytime photo classes at the Art Institiute and UC Extension that excited her. Though mostly self-instructed, her teachers have included Judy Dater, Oliver Gagliani, Ansel Adams, Mark Citret, and John Sexton. Brown’s future husband built her a first darkroom in 1971. There she started learning the fine art silver printing that distinguishes her work to this day. Brown’s 1975 move to the northern Sierra brought her to fertile creative ground. She thrived in the art backwaters of the mountains. She photographed the forest as sacred and the detritus of rural existence as archaeology. Brown owned a portrait studio for 15 years, taught photography at Feather River College for 10 years, and exhibited extensively until 1998. Following a lengthy illness, Brown has exhibited recently in solo and group shows throughout the United States. Work from her major portfolios, Intimations and Trailers Collected, is finding frequent inclusion in publications like David Bram’s Fraction Magazine and The Photo Review Competition 2012, chosen by Robert Mann. Brown’s typology, Trailers Collected, was among ten winners of Boston’s Photographic Resource Center competition, Exposure 2012, an exhibit juried by Alison Nordstrom of George Eastman House. Brown’s work is represented in the collections of Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Southeast Museum of Photography.