Philip Perkis

Philip Perkis (November 12, 1935 – November 21, 2025) was an American photographer and educator. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship and his work is held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Museum of Art, J. Paul Getty Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Early life and career Perkis was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 12, 1935. He studied painting at San Francisco Art Institute.

He took up photography while in the Air Force in 1957. Later, he made half his living doing commercial assignments and printing for other photographers, and the other half teaching—at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Personal life and death Perkis was married to the artist Cyrilla Mozenter. He died on November 21, 2025, at the age of 90.

Publications Books of photography by Perkis Warwick Mountain Series: Photographs. Atlanta, GA: Nexus, 1978. . The Sadness of Men. New York City: Quantuck Lane, 2008. . With a foreword by Alan Klotz, an introduction by Max Kozloff and a transcrpt of an interview between Perkis and John Braverman Levine. In a Box Upon the Sea = 바다로 떠나는 상자 속에서 = Pada ro ttŏnanŭn sangja sok esŏ. Seoul, South Korea: Anmoc, 2016. Photographs and anecdotes by Perkis. In English and Korean.

Group exhibitions Spirit of Mexico: Photographs by Bravo, Levitt and Perkis, Telfair Academy, Savannah, Georgia, 2006. With work by Perkins, Manuel Alvarez Bravo and Helen Levitt.

Awards 1991: Guggenheim Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for photography

Collections Perkis' work is held in the following permanent collections: Art Institute of Chicago: 8 prints (as of 27 October 2022) Carnegie Museum of Art: 6 prints (as of 27 October 2022) J. Paul Getty Museum: 2 prints (as of 27 October 2022) Metropolitan Museum of Art: 8 prints (as of 27 October 2022) Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles: 4 prints (as of 27 October 2022) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: 5 prints (as of 27 October 2022)