Old School US Photography By Christine Osinski

Christine Osinski takes photographs as if she is gathering clues. She seeks information like a detective, using tools that extend her grasp. The 4 x 5 camera is key to gaining both the visible and unapparent detail that may provide evidence and lead to comprehension of what she and the camera are recording. Osinski's New York Photographsproject is recent; she began to catalogue evidence of the singular and collective island cultures of New York City, a topic of potentially epic proportions. As she has done so, she has researched the history that yielded those traces, like Robert Moses' heroic and controversial scheme to build a unifying system of urban parks and bridges in the region. Osinski's goal of examining the interwoven realities of separate and aggregate bodies over time relates to past work with a women's synchronized swimming team on Staten Island.
Osinski began her art studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she credits the brilliance of photohistorian Hugh Edwards with awakening her to photography's force and physical authority. She received her master's degree from the Yale School of Art. Osinski is an Associate Professor of Art at Cooper Union and recently assumed the function of Director of Academic Advisement. She has lectured and taught at numerous institutions, including Yale, Rutgers University, Pratt Institute and Parsons School of Design.