News and Media

Article By: Laura Swanson
Published: Jan 25, 2012

In mid-December, SCAD alumna Claire Rosen (B.F.A., photography, 2006) was named to the first-ever Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Art & Design category. To identify individuals who have remarkable influence in their respective fields despite their young age, Forbes launched a nomination process seeking exemplars aptly dubbed "Today's disrupters and tomorrow's brightest stars." Staff reporters received thousands of submissions in 12 categories, which included Music, Media, Finance and Technology, among others.

As a recognized leader in the photography industry and a standout in art and design, Rosen - after some investigation on her part - found that she likely was nominated by the International Center for Photography, a suggestion later vetted by a three-person panel of industry experts. In her category, the judges included artist Chuck Close; longtime curator, dealer and art advisor Jeffrey Deitch; and style guru and author Simon Doonan. These luminaries were assigned the complex task of narrowing the nominations in the category that spans from painting to fashion to furniture. In the end, the list included Rosen and such notable individuals as creative director, fashion designer and former SCAD Stylelab Mentor Chris Benz, and fashion entrepreneurs Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen.

At 28, Rosen has cultivated a distinctive photography style. The Forbes website describes Rosen as a "Fine art and commercial photographer, video artist, educator who loves big dresses, taxidermy, fables," and she believes that her artwork was distinguished because it can be fine art, it can be commercial, and - most often - it can be both.

"I started out in a fine arts direction making work for myself," Rosen said. "That work began to get used for commercial purposes and I started getting commissions…so I luckily fell into this commercial mode that still feels very much like my own style. It straddles a fine art sensibility while having a commercial application. I think that makes it a little different."

As a SCAD student, her distinctive artistic technique was championed rather than stifled.

"In Savannah you're not forced to conform," Rosen said. "The instructors encouraged us to find our own voice, to experiment, and to create work that we wanted to make as opposed to being channeled into a certain style of photography."

Through her eponymous photography company, Rosen has a client list that includes Random House, Prevention Magazine, The London Sunday Fashion Times, Neiman Marcus at Short Hills and dozens of other publications and companies. Rosen's photography has been widely exhibited since 2009, has representation in galleries located from California to Maine, and is included in public and private collections.

Rosen's career was spurred after her SCAD graduation by close ties with SCAD professors. Her instructors' industry connections helped Rosen get in touch with world-renowned photographer Joyce Tenneson.

"Two days after I graduated I went and did a three-month internship with [Tenneson] that turned into managing her studio for two-and-a-half years," recalls Rosen. "The amazing thing about SCAD is how accessible the faculty is. You can develop professional relationships that don't feel so much like student to teacher so that when you go out into the world and you are networking, you feel adult talking about your artwork and working collaboratively with other people."

Rosen's connection to Tenneson led to another chapter in her career - education. Rosen was immersed in an educational community through the Maine Media Workshops, began her teaching career as Tenneson's assistant, and went on to instruct her own sections. Today she lectures and teaches workshops in New York at the International Center of Photography, around the world through NORD Photography and Gulf Photo Plus, and at a half dozen other organizations.

Her latest endeavor is video art, which Rosen admits she hasn't mastered yet. "I'm still navigating through it myself, but I'm having fun trying to incorporate it as a different way to tell a story."

In many ways, her continual growth and development embody the essence of the Forbes 30 Under 30. While Rosen's past accomplishments are independently noteworthy, Forbes sought to predict whose talent and invention could change the story of art and design in years to come. Rosen still has decades to craft her message and a narrative that is far from complete.