Biography.guide
Home › People › Photographer › Mary E. Frey
Portrait of Mary E. Frey

Mary E. Frey

b. 1948

American photographer (born 1948)

Don't just read it — keep itBiographies to ownE-book · Audio · Video From $7 →

About Mary E. Frey

Born 1948. Mary E. Frey is an American photographer and artist.

Mary E. Frey (born 1948) is an American photographer and educator who lives in western Massachusetts. Her staged scenes of mundane middle-class life, using family, friends and strangers, which appear to be documentary at first sight, are intended to address "the nature of the documentary image in contemporary culture."

In 1984 Frey had a solo exhibition at the Hudson River Museum and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Early life and education Frey grew up in Yonkers, a borough of New York City. She was the oldest of 6 children. Mark Steinmetz wrote in Time that these photographs "seem quite naturalistic, but are in part staged by the photographer, and she avoids the temptation to romanticize."

Collections Frey's work is held in the following permanent collections: Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL: 2 prints (as of April 2021) Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991. Curated by Peter Galassi. Pictures by Women: a History of Modern Photography, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2010/11 Domestic Rituals & Real Life Dramas, Copenhagen Photo Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2019

Biography shop

Don’t just read it —
keep it.

Full-length biographies made to live with: read them, listen on the way to work, watch them tonight.

  • E-book
  • Audio
  • Video
Browse the shop — from $7

Instant download · yours to keep · every purchase keeps this site free

Important facts

Born
1948
Birth century
Nationality
Awards
Guggenheim Fellowship
Also known as
Mary Frey

People in Mary E. Frey's life

Named in this biography and alive at the same time

Contemporaries

People whose lives overlapped Mary E. Frey's

Frequently asked questions

Who is Mary E. Frey?

American photographer (born 1948)

When was Mary E. Frey born?

Mary E. Frey was born in 1948.

What is Mary E. Frey's occupation?

Mary E. Frey is a photographer and artist.

What nationality is Mary E. Frey?

Mary E. Frey is American.

Sources & further reading

· Wikipedia: Mary E. Frey

· Wikidata: Q28025303

· DBpedia: Mary Frey

Cite this page

APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Mary E. Frey. https://biography.guide/mary-e-frey/

MLA: "Mary E. Frey." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/mary-e-frey/.

Chicago: "Mary E. Frey." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/mary-e-frey/.

Data last updated: 2026-09-20 · Spot an error? Report a correction.

Page generated 2026-09-27 05:07 UTC