Skip to main content

Catherine Opie Photography

American, b. 1961

American photographer Catherine Opie has not only documented the cultural shift of the last few decades, she has also lived it. Once an outsider shooting her own “fringe community,” Opie is celebrated today for her evocative black and white and color photography and her confrontational examination of gender conventions. Through her lens, she investigates themes of individual identity and community.

Opie was born in Ohio in 1961 and spent her childhood in the Midwest. When she was 13, her family moved to California, where she set up a darkroom in the spare bedroom of the new house and started taking photographs. She received her BFA from San Francisco Art Institute in 1985, followed by an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 1988.

Opie started gaining recognition in the 1990s for her intimate studio portraits featuring other lesbian, gay and transgender artists and personal friends. Harkening back to traditional Renaissance-style portrait paintings, the photographs helped increase the visibility of marginalized communities as the fight for LGBTQ rights took shape

Opie has embraced a range of additional subject matter. She traveled across the United States to photograph widely varying but quintessentially American groups, from high school football players to members of a staunchly conservative political movement. She documented ice-fishing sheds in Minnesota, the 2008 US presidential inauguration, the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival and anything and everything that caught her interest. For 2015’s 700 Nimes Road (DelMonico Books/Prestel), Opie trained her eclectic lens on the house and personal belongings of Elizabeth Taylor

Opie has been teaching at the University of California, Los Angeles, since 2001 and has garnered numerous prestigious awards for her work, including the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2008, the Guggenheim’s “Catherine Opie: American Photographer” exhibition spanned four floors and attracted thousands of people every day until it closed. 

Despite her recognition and accolades, Opie continues to prefer subversive imagery. "Photographs are different these days," she told Introspective magazine in 2020. "The ones I like best are from those people who are bearing witness, like images of the protestors."

On 1stDibs, find original Catherine Opie photography and prints.

to
1
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
1
1
2
2
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
1
3
11,259
2,851
2,494
1,446
1
2
Artist: Catherine Opie
Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph
Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph

Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph

By Catherine Opie

Located in Surfside, FL

CATHERINE OPIE (b. 1961, OH), SIGNED Vintage limited edition Photograph Born in Sandusky, OH, Catherine Opie received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from the Cali...

Category

20th Century Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

30 Minutes After Inauguration
30 Minutes After Inauguration

30 Minutes After Inauguration

By Catherine Opie

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Catherine Opie (b. 1961) is a renowned American photographer best known for her bold portraits, mysterious landscapes, and thought-provoking explorations of identity, community, gend...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

C Print

Untitled (Gabby)
Untitled (Gabby)

Untitled (Gabby)

By Catherine Opie

Located in New York, NY

Catherine Opie Untitled 1989 Signed, dated, and inscribed in pencil, verso Vintage gelatin silver print 7 x 7 inches, image Contact gallery for price.

Category

1980s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Related Items
Nude Paris Willy Ronis 20th Century French Humanist photography black and white
Nude Paris Willy Ronis 20th Century French Humanist photography black and white

Nude Paris Willy Ronis 20th Century French Humanist photography black and white

By Willy Ronis

Located in Paris, FR

Willy Ronis is one of the most famous members of the French Humanist photography. Silver print on photographic paper Hand-signed by the artist lower right Stamp of the artist's stud...

Category

1990s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

The Hair Willy Ronis Humanist black and white photography woman naked nude
The Hair Willy Ronis Humanist black and white photography woman naked nude

The Hair Willy Ronis Humanist black and white photography woman naked nude

By Willy Ronis

Located in Paris, FR

Willy Ronis is one of the most famous members of the French Humanist photography. Silver print on photographic paper Hand-signed by the artist lower right Stamp of the artist's stud...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Untitled (Brian and Carl Morphed) - Two Nude figures, Black and White Photograph
Untitled (Brian and Carl Morphed) - Two Nude figures, Black and White Photograph

Untitled (Brian and Carl Morphed) - Two Nude figures, Black and White Photograph

By Doug Birkenheuer

Located in Chicago, IL

Two nude males lie on a bare wood floor. The angle of the photograph suggests that their bodies have melded into one. The artist uses traditional photography methods shooting the i...

Category

1990s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Lisa - Silver Gelatin print, Contemporary signed limited edition nude photo
Lisa - Silver Gelatin print, Contemporary signed limited edition nude photo

Lisa - Silver Gelatin print, Contemporary signed limited edition nude photo

By Ian Sanderson

Located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona

‘ Lisa ' By Ian Sanderson, Silver Gelatin print, Fiber based Photography : 1989 A beautiful silver gelatin fibre based print produced in the darkroom directly from the negative. The ...

Category

1980s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver

Foyer VIII, Milan - Italian Design Interior Architecture Color Photography
Foyer VIII, Milan - Italian Design Interior Architecture Color Photography

Foyer VIII, Milan - Italian Design Interior Architecture Color Photography

By Richard Heeps

Located in Cambridge, GB

Foyer VIII, Italian interior photography from Richard Heeps series, A Short History of Milan. A Short History of Milan, began in November 2018 for a special project featured at the ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin

Marilyn Monroe An Appreciation original vintage Leo Castelli Gallery print Lt Ed

Marilyn Monroe An Appreciation original vintage Leo Castelli Gallery print Lt Ed

By Eve Arnold

Located in New York, NY

This gorgeous offset lithograph poster was created on the occasion of the Eva Arnold exhibition, Marilyn Monroe: An Appreciation, at the famed Leo Castelli Gallery in 1987 - Castelli...

Category

1980s Pop Art Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Offset, Lithograph

Male Nude with Head Down (Sepia Toned Figurative Photograph by David Halliday)
Male Nude with Head Down (Sepia Toned Figurative Photograph by David Halliday)

Male Nude with Head Down (Sepia Toned Figurative Photograph by David Halliday)

By David Halliday

Located in Hudson, NY

Contemporary figurative sepia toned photograph of nude male model Sepia toned silver gelatin print, edition 3 of 25 Image size: 8 x 8 inches 17.5 x 16.5 x 1 inches framed with 8-ply white mat and non reflective glass. Signed and dated below image with atelier stamp This contemporary figurative photograph was taken by David Halliday in 1998. The sepia toned silver gelatin print beautifully captures a standing male model on a simple monotone background. The nude model's flawless skin complements the similarly toned sepia backdrop, while contrasts in light and shadow accentuate his toned back and shoulder muscles. The figure's casual pose lends a serene atmosphere to the image. This print, 3rd in the edition of 25, is framed in a custom brown wood Larson Juhl frame with an 8 ply white mat and non reflective glass. The print is signed with an atelier stamp on the lower right. About the Artist: David Halliday's photographs are about beauty, pure and simple. His primary subjects are carefully composed still lifes, portraits and landscapes which he shoots in black and white film with only natural light. He is a purist behind the lens, rarely manipulating his negatives in any way, and a master in the darkroom. His work has an ethereal quality that's translated not only through the subject, but also by the warm colors and sepia tones he uses in his printing. More about the work: A master of light, David Halliday produces lush and elegant images that are both classical and modern. Celebrated for his ‘purist’ eye, he poetically captures the nude male body in a selection of sepia-toned prints from 1996. Rarely revealing the model's face, Halliday prefers to focus on the natural drape of limbs, soft folds of flawless skin, and curvature of the spine. Overall, a stunningly intimate portrayal of the male form done with elegance and charm. Resume: Born 1958, Glen Cove, New York Lives in Schodack Landing, NY EDUCATION 1998 Penland School of Crafts, Penland, North Carolina 1988 The Maine Photographic Workshops, Rockport, Maine 1976-79 Syracuse University, New York 1974-76 Wooster School Community Art Center, Danbury, Connecticut SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 Threadbare/New Photographs, Arthur Roger Galley, New Orleans, LA McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, TX 2012 The Past Still Present, Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA 2010 Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA Wessel+O’Connor Fine Art, Lambertville, NJ Julie Heller...

Category

1990s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

69YK #61 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art

69YK #61 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art

By Nobuyoshi Araki

Located in Zurich, CH

Nobuyoshi ARAKI (*1940, Japan) 69YK #61, 2009 Gelatin silver print 60 x 50.8 cm (23 5/8 x 20 in.) Print only Nobuyoshi Araki (Tokyo, 1940) is a Tokyo-based photographer. Araki completed his studies at Chiba University’s Department of Photography, Painting and Engineering with a focus on the study of film and photography. His photographic project Satchin earned him the prestigious Taiyo Award in 1964, shortly after he had joined the advertising agency Dentsu, where he worked until 1972. At Dentsu he met his wife Yoko, to whom he paid homage in Sentimental Journey, a photographic record of their honeymoon published in 1971. Eros and thanatos (sex and death) has been a central theme in Araki’s work; an abiding fascination with female genitalia and women’s bodies in Japanese bondage...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Black and White, Silver Gelatin

69YK #62 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art

69YK #62 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art

By Nobuyoshi Araki

Located in Zurich, CH

Nobuyoshi ARAKI (*1940, Japan) 69YK #62, 2009 Gelatin silver print 60 x 50.8 cm (23 5/8 x 20 in.) Print only Nobuyoshi Araki (Tokyo, 1940) is a Tokyo-based photographer. Araki completed his studies at Chiba University’s Department of Photography, Painting and Engineering with a focus on the study of film and photography. His photographic project Satchin earned him the prestigious Taiyo Award in 1964, shortly after he had joined the advertising agency Dentsu, where he worked until 1972. At Dentsu he met his wife Yoko, to whom he paid homage in Sentimental Journey, a photographic record of their honeymoon published in 1971. Eros and thanatos (sex and death) has been a central theme in Araki’s work; an abiding fascination with female genitalia and women’s bodies in Japanese bondage...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Black and White, Silver Gelatin

Burlesque Series, Delilah Right Red Hand I, The Whoopee Club, London
Burlesque Series, Delilah Right Red Hand I, The Whoopee Club, London

Burlesque Series, Delilah Right Red Hand I, The Whoopee Club, London

By Richard Heeps

Located in Cambridge, GB

Richard Heeps became well-known for his Burlesque Photography after he spent 2003 capturing performances in Britain & America. He spent a lot on time with his subjects on a number of...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper

69YK #10 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art

69YK #10 – Nobuyoshi Araki, Japanese Photography, Nude, Black and White, Art

By Nobuyoshi Araki

Located in Zurich, CH

Nobuyoshi ARAKI (*1940, Japan) 69YK #10, 2009 Gelatin silver print 50.8 x 60 cm (20 x 23 5/8 in.) Print only Nobuyoshi Araki (Tokyo, 1940) is a Tokyo-based photographer. Araki completed his studies at Chiba University’s Department of Photography, Painting and Engineering with a focus on the study of film and photography. His photographic project Satchin earned him the prestigious Taiyo Award in 1964, shortly after he had joined the advertising agency Dentsu, where he worked until 1972. At Dentsu he met his wife Yoko, to whom he paid homage in Sentimental Journey, a photographic record of their honeymoon published in 1971. Eros and thanatos (sex and death) has been a central theme in Araki’s work; an abiding fascination with female genitalia and women’s bodies in Japanese bondage...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Black and White

Previously Available Items
Alaska Landscape #3
Alaska Landscape #3

Alaska Landscape #3

By Catherine Opie

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Catherine Opie (b. 1961) is a renowned American photographer best known for her bold portraits, mysterious landscapes, and thought-provoking explorations of identity, gender, and soc...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

C Print

Still from the Modernist

Still from the Modernist

By Catherine Opie

Located in New York, NY

This photograph by Catherine Opie was produced in an edition of 70 in 2022, and is offered by CLAMP in New York City.

Category

2010s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph
Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph

Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph

By Catherine Opie

Located in Surfside, FL

CATHERINE OPIE (b. 1961, OH), SIGNED Vintage limited edition Photograph Born in Sandusky, OH, Catherine Opie received a BFA from San Francisco Art Inst...

Category

20th Century Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Pig Pen

Pig Pen

By Catherine Opie

Located in New York, NY

Pig Pen 1993/2021 Signed and numbered, verso Archival pigment print (Edition of 5 + 3 APs) 12.25 x 9 inches (31.1 x 22.9 cm), image Contact gallery for price. This work is offer...

Category

1990s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (Kiki DuRane)

Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (Kiki DuRane)

By Catherine Opie

Located in New York, NY

Mx. Justin Vivian Bond (Kiki DuRane) 1993/2008 Signed and numbered, verso Archival pigment print (Edition of 100) 10 x 8 inches (25.4 x 20.3 cm), image Contact gallery for price.

Category

1990s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

From Here to There

From Here to There

By Catherine Opie

Located in New York, NY

From Here to There 2009 Signed in black ink, verso Archival pigment print 6 x 6 inches (15.24 x 15.24 cm), sheet 5.5 x 5.5 inches (14 x 14 cm), image This work is offered by Clam...

Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Archival Pigment

Trash

Catherine OpieTrash, 1994

Sold

H 70 in W 30 in

Trash

By Catherine Opie

Located in New York, NY

Chromogenic print Signed on label, verso Accompanied by a letter from the artist explaining the background of the photograph. 70 x 30 inches, image This artwork is offered by Clam...

Category

1990s Contemporary Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

C Print

Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph
Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph

Curators, Catherine Opie Signed Vintage Photograph

By Catherine Opie

Located in Surfside, FL

CATHERINE OPIE (b. 1961, OH), SIGNED Vintage limited edition Photograph Born in Sandusky, OH, Catherine Opie received a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Opie's work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan: The Walker Art Center, Minneopolis, MN; St. Louis Art Museum, MO; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; The Photographers' Gallery, London, UK; Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK; Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy; and Ginza Art Space, Tokyo, Japan. She is currently a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA. Catherine Opie has become known for her photographic portraits of gay communities and American urban landscapes ranging from large color images of Beverly Hills and Bel Air homes to small jewel-like silver gelatin prints of the Los Angeles freeways. Moving from the territory of the body to the structure of the city and its surrounding landscape, Opie is engaged in what curator and writer, Joshua Decter describes as "cultural portraiture". Her subject matters vary from the Minneapolis/St. Paul vernacular landscape of skyways, to large-format images of ice-fishing houses and portraits of a clan of surfers who await the perfect wave. As such, Opie has become one of the nation's most important photographers today documenting the American scene through regional landscapes and cultural portraiture. Since the prominent debut of her classically composed but often shocking images capturing Los Angeles's gay subculture, Opie has continued to explore the rich terrain of cultural portraiture and the documentary tradition in America. In its compelling clarity and inherent variation, her work reveals a deeply personal commitment to the dignity of her subjects. SELECT RECENT SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 2016 'Catherine Opie: Portraits', Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (1/30 - 5/22) 'Catherine Opie: 700 Nimes Road', MoCA Pacific Design Center, West Hollywood, CA (1/23 - 5/8) 'Catherine Opie: 700 Nimes Road', Lehmann Maupin, New York NY (1/14 - 2/27) 'Catherine Opie: Portraits and Landscapes', Lehmann Maupin, New York NY (1/14 - 2/27) 2015 'Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim' (group exhibition), Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY 'Catherine Opie: Portraits and Landscapes', Wexner Center for the Arts, Minneapolis, MN 2013 'Catherine Opie', Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA 2014 'The Gang: Photographs by Catherine Opie', Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK 2012 'The Importance of Being Photographed' (group exhibition), University of South Florida (USF) Contemporary Art Museum Institute for Research in Art (IRA), Tampa, FL 'Catherine Opie: High School Football', Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY 'Catherine Opie Photographs Cliff May...

Category

20th Century Catherine Opie Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Catherine Opie photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Catherine Opie photography available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of photography to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Catherine Opie in pigment print, archival paper, archival pigment print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Catherine Opie photography, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Christophe von Hohenberg, George Dureau, and George Krause. Catherine Opie photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $938 and tops out at $40,000, while the average work can sell for $5,000.