Sharon Farmer
Sharon Farmer | |
|---|---|
| Chief Official White House Photographer | |
| In office September 1998 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Bob McNeely |
| Succeeded by | Eric Draper |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 10, 1951 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Ohio State University |
| Occupation | Photojournalist |
Sharon Camille Farmer (born June 10, 1951)[1] is an American photographer. She was the first African-American woman to be hired as a White House photographer[2][3] and the first African American and first female to be Director of the White House Photography office.[4][5]
Biography
Farmer was born and raised in Washington, D.C.,[6] and graduated from Ohio State University in 1974 with a degree in photography. While a student she became a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, vice president of the student government, and served as editor for the school newspaper, Our Choking Times.[7]
Career
Farmer started her career in 1974 shooting album covers. Her freelance photography grew to photojournalism and she worked for Smithsonian Institution, The Washington Post and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.[8]
In 1993, Sharon Farmer was hired to photograph for The White House covering President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.[9][10] Later, Farmer was promoted to Director of White House Photography and became the first African American and first woman to hold this position.[8][11]Farmer has stated that one reason why the White House Photography Office used so much film during the first six and one-half years of the Clinton presidency is because "Our purpose is to serve the American democracy by creating a visual record of its presidency...We are creating a legacy, not for public relations purposes, but as an archive for the future."[12]
Farmer's work has been included in multiple exhibits, including: "Songs of My People," "Art against AIDS," "Gospel in the Projects," "Twenty Years on the Mall," "Washington, DC-Beijing Exchange," and "Our View of Struggle."[8]Her work has also been featured in numerous books, including Martin Duberman's Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS; Dave Marsh's Bruce Springsteen on Tour: 1968-2005; Hilary Clinton's An Invitation to the White House: At Home with History; Sharon Rosier Hyson's President Clinton's Legacy to Africa; and Songs of My People, the book, exhibition, and multimedia project edited by Eric Easter, Dudley M. Brooks, and D. Michael Cheers.
Education
Sharon Farmer majored in photography and minored in music at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree.[13]
References
- ↑ Gates, Henry Louis. "Profile Sharon Farmer African-American National Biography" (PDF). Retrieved September 30, 2017.
- ↑ Dawkins, Wayne (January 1, 2003). Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream. August Press LLC. ISBN 9780963572073.
- ↑ Smith, Jessie Carney; Bracks, Lean'tin; Wynn, Linda T. (June 1, 2015). The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578595839.
- ↑ "Meet White House Photographer, Sharon Farmer". clinton4.nara.gov. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- ↑ Langer, Emily (August 19, 2013). "Ellsworth J. Davis, first black photographer for The Washington Post, dies at 86". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- ↑ Freeman, Macy L. (November 22, 2011). "Black photographers tell their stories". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Sharon Farmer". LGBTHistoryMonth.com. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
- 1 2 3 "Sharon Farmer". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Photographer Spotlight | Sharon Farmer". thephotographer4you.com. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ↑ "Minor Rift Between First Pets - 01-06-98". AllPolitics. CNN. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- ↑ "Tuason presents award to Sharon Farmer". www.glaa.org. April 20, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
- ↑ Patterson, Bradley H. (2000). The White House Staff: Inside the West Wing and Beyond (1st ed.). Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 409. ISBN 0-8157-6950-4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ↑ "Sharon Farmer". Focus On The Story. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
External links
Media related to Sharon Farmer at Wikimedia Commons
- American photojournalists
- Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
- Living people
- Journalists from Washington, D.C.
- 20th-century American women journalists
- 1951 births
- White House photographers
- Photographers from Washington, D.C.
- African-American photographers
- African-American women journalists
- African-American journalists
- 20th-century American journalists
- 20th-century American photographers
- 20th-century American women photographers
- 21st-century American journalists
- 21st-century American women journalists
- 20th-century African-American women writers
- 20th-century American women writers
- 20th-century African-American writers
- 21st-century African-American writers
- 21st-century African-American women writers
- 21st-century American women writers
- 21st-century African-American artists
- American women photojournalists
- 21st-century American women photographers
- 21st-century American photographers