Education
2022-Present | MFA Candidate in Photography, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA |
2021 | MA Candidate, Southern Studies, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS |
2020 | BA, Fine Arts and History, Concentration in Photography, Departmental Honors in History, Haverford College, Haverford, PA |
Teaching Experience
2022-Present | Instructor of Record in Photography, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA |
2021-Present | Photography Lab Monitor, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA |
2021-2022 | Photography Teaching Assistant, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA |
2022 | Public Programs Intern, Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, New Orleans, LA |
2021 | Southern Studies Teaching Assistant, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS |
2021 | Darkroom Monitor, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS |
2017-2020 | Photography Teaching Assistant and Lab Monitor, Haverford College, Haverford, PA |
Awards, Grants, and Fellowships
2023 | Jewish Alabama Folklife Fellowship, Alabama Folklife Association |
2022 | Rabbi Allen Krause Endowment Grant, Southern Jewish Historical Society |
2022 | Project Grant, Texas Jewish Historical Society |
2021 | Excellence in Inclusivity Fellowship, University of Mississippi |
2020 | Fotofika 2020 All-Star, Reviewed by David Hume Kennerly and Leah Ollman |
2020, 2019 | The Student Arts Fund, John B. Hurford Center for Arts and Humanities, Haverford College |
Solo Exhibitions
2023 | We had to know who we were; We had to know who we weren’t, Temple Beth Or, in partnership with the Alabama Folklife Association, Montgomery, AL |
2023 | the in between, Gallery 229, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA |
2022 | We had to know who we were; We had to know who we weren’t, Gallery 229, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA |
2021 | Finding Home, Hey! Cafe (as part of PhotoNOLA), New Orleans, LA |
Group Exhibitions
2023 | Society for Photographic Education South Centeral/South East Member’s Show, Schley Gallery in the Corn Center for the Visual Arts at Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, Juried by Erin Dunn |
2023 | Slow Exposures, Stricklands, Concord, GA and The Cochran Gallery, LaGrange, GA, Juried by Aline Smithson and Alexa Dilworth |
2023 | Reveal, Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge, LA |
2023 | TPS 31: The International Exhibition, Nancy Fyfe Cardozier Gallery at The University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa, TX, Juried by Charlotte Cotton |
2023 | LSU Graduate Open Studios, Baton Rouge, LA |
2022 | Society for Photographic Education South Central Student Showcase, Donna Service Gallery at Bossier Parish Community College, Bossier City, LA, Juried by Stefan Nodarse |
2022 | Why LSU from an Artist's Point of View, Union Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, Curated by Cecelia Mosely |
2022 | With A Little Help From My Friends, Yes We Cannibal, Baton Rouge, LA |
2021 | Southern Studies Fall Student Showcase, The Powerhouse, Oxford, MS |
2020 | (Online) Love In All Forms, Analog Forever Magazine, Juried by Rashod Taylor |
2020 | (Online) 2020 Senior Thesis Exhibition, Haverford College, Haverford, PA |
2018 | Stories That Live, The Rohr Center for Jewish Life, Haverford, PA |
Additional Professional Experience
2022-Present | President of Shutterpunks (LSU Photography Club) |
2023 | Photography and New Media Fellowship Reviewer, Alabama State Council on the Arts |
2023 | Photographs commissioned for the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life |
2019-2020 | Student Photographer, Haverford College, Haverford, PA |
2018 | Photography Intern, Muslala, Jerusalem, Israel |
Publications
2023 | (Forthcoming) “We had to know who we were; We had to know who we weren’t,” The Bitter Southerner, Online publication based in Athens, GA |
2023 | “Blue,” Shutterpunks Volume 4, publication of the LSU Photography Club |
2023 | “Feature: Emily Williams,” Deep Red Press, Online Publicationhttps://www.deepredpress.com/features/2023/emily-rena-williams |
2022 | Parish Epiphany: King Cake Bakers of South Louisiana, The Southern Foodways Alliance, Online Publicationhttps://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/parish-epiphany/ |
2019 | “West Philly, Baby!” Margin Journal, Hurford Center for Arts and Humanities, Haverford College |
Workshops, Lectures, and Panel Talks
2024 | (Forthcoming) “New Directions in Texas Jewish Studies” Roundtable with Mark A. Goldberg, Joshua Furman, Anne Gessler, and Bryan Edward Stone, Texas State Historical Association Conference, College Station, Texas |
2023 | (Forthcoming) Invited speaker, “Lunchtime Lagniappe” Series, Capitol Park Museum, Baton Rouge, LA |
2023 | (Forthcoming) “Outside the Archival Boxes: Art and Oral Histories Enriching Jewish Studies Scholarship” Panel with Jillian Glantz and Gabrielle Lyle, Southern Jewish Historical Society Conference, Rice University, Houston, TX |
2023 | Invited Speaker, “We had to know who we were; We had to know who we weren’t,” Online lecture, Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center Sisterhood, Pasadena, CA |
2023 | Invited Speaker/Guest Critic, “The Photographer as Historian,” Metairie Park Country Day School, Metairie, LA |
2022 | “Jewish Race and Place in the Deep South,” Society for Photographic Education South Central Conference, Bossier Parish Community College, Bossier City, LA |
2022 | “Current Research - Photographer and Oral Historian Emily Williams,” Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, New Orleans, LA |