BIO
Originally from Sweden, Kris Davidson spent the first half her childhood in the Scandinavian arctic and the second half in Texas. It was a curious start in life, giving Kris a love for different cultures that fuels her ongoing work as a photographer. In her personal work, she investigates the nuanced question of what it means to become and be an American, with an eye to the role of reconstructive memory as it gives shape to individual identity in a larger American cultural landscape.
Prior to becoming a photographer full-time, Kris worked as a marketing/branding professional for eight years in the San Francisco Bay Area on both corporate and agency sides, a career incarnation that continually informs her work as a visual storyteller. As a photographer, her specialties include travel/lifestyle, documentary, and portraiture. She has collaborated with various editorial and commercial clients including National Geographic Traveler, Lonely Planet Traveller (UK), Kimpton Hotels, Ford, The Institute for Shipboard Education and many others. She has been recognized for her work in PDN Magazine, American Photo Magazine and in the International Photo Awards.
As an educator, Kris has authored and teaches several courses for the BFA and MFA programs at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She earned her undergraduate degree from Loyola University in New Orleans and her MFA from Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara.
These days Kris is based in San Francisco, California. When not writing about herself in the third person, she can be found exploring the United States, listening to stories, in search of myths, tall tales and legends for The American Imagination project.