Anne Eder (IBA’12) is an up and coming photographer who is exhibiting her work internationally. After completing her BA at Goddard, Anne went on to earn an MFA in Photography from Lesley University’s College of Art and Design. Anne shares her thoughts about what her time at Goddard meant to her–plus she plans to return to Goddard for an Individualized Master of Arts in art ethics!
“I am proud of my association with Goddard— its politics, its reputation for academic rigor, and the institution’s commitment to non-traditional educational models. Goddard’s insistence that students not just learn, but think; the requirement that the learning undertaken must be reflected upon and contextualized within the greater good, is something that will stay with me always. It has shaped the way that I approach my art practice and my role as an educator. I am currently preparing to return to Goddard to pursue a second masters degree in ethics related to the arts, and in particular photography.
In addition, the bond formed with your advisors is something unique in the academic environment. It is both formal and personal, enduring after graduation. I remain fond of and grateful to my high caliber, enthusiastic, and ever supportive advisors, Annie Abdalla and Otto Muller. Anne even made it to Boston for my MFA exhibition!”
Anne describes her work: “In many ways, my current work has derived directly from the concerns that shaped it while studying at Goddard. I became extremely interested in the endemic ethical issues inherent to the photographic medium. The work I undertook at Goddard endeavored to challenge the traditional power dynamic between photographer and subject by working collaboratively with my subjects. In the work I am making now, I bypass the issue by constructing nearly everything within the photographic frame. Any images involving children are collaborative, structured as play and includes their parents. The work itself is multiplatform, consisting of sculpture, installation, images, and most recently, short original fairy tales.”