Biography 

I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1942 and received a BA in literature, graduating second in class from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963, earning a Phi Beta Kappa in 1962. In 1974, I began photographing the male nude, turning to other subjects in later years. I have lived in Northern Virginia since 1968. Before I moved to Virginia, I taught English at North East High School in Philadelphia, a school that became the subject Frederik Wiseman’s celebrated cinéma vérité documentary "High School,”  for which he chose to film a segment of my poetry class. Later, I taught English literature and writing, including AP, in a Northern Virginia high school.  



Hopefully, the work stands for itself.



Solo Exhibitions

2023   American University MuseumWashington, D.C. Nature’s Tapestry

2010  Greater Reston Arts Center renamed Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, Reston, VA, Beautiful: Virginia Women Artists and the Body

2001   Troyer Gallery, Washington, D.C., Evanescence: Photographs at the Water's Edge

1998  Troyer Fitzpatrick Lassman Gallery, Washington, D.C., Narratives of Desire: Photographs by Michelle Luke, Bernis von zur Muehlenand Susan Wides 

1992   National Jewish Museum of the B'nai B'rith, Washington, D.C., Sacred Silences: Photographs of Jewish Prague 

1991 Jones Troyer Fitzpatrick Gallery, Washington, D.C., Four Photographers: Linda Connor, Rosamund Purcell, Claire Flanders, and Bernis von zur Muehlen

1990  Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Terra Sancta: Images of  Israel, Nepal, and the American West (Arnold Kramer, Frank diPerna, Bernis von zur Muehlen, Peter von zur Muehlen

1989  Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C. 

1984  Photoworks Gallery, Richmond, Virginia

 Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C. 

1983   Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia 

1981  Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C. 

Delaware Museum of Art, Wilmington, Delaware 

1980  Bayly Museum of Art, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 

1978  Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland 

Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, New York, New York 

1977  Wolfe Street Gallery, Washington, D.C. 

1977  Panopticon Gallery, Boston, MA

1976  Eric Schindler Gallery, Richmond, Virginia

Washington Project for the Arts, “The Photographs of Bernis and Peter von zur Muehlen,” Alice Denney director, Washington, D.C. 

Panopticon Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 

1975  Wolfe Street Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia 

1974  Washington Gallery of Photography, Washington, D.C.


Group Exhibitions

2019 The American University Museum, Washington, DC, Moves Like Walter: New Curators open the Corcoran Legacy Collection

2014 Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC, Flesh and Bone, Juried exhibition

2009  Osuna Art, Bethesda MD, 60 Artists

2007  Osuna Art, Bethesda MD, Washington Women in the Arts: A Selection

2004  Troyer Gallery, Washington, D.C., The Ultimate Exhibition

2003  Troyer Gallery, Washington, D.C., Landscape Memories

2000  Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD, Snapshot (exhibition followed by a national tour).

1992  New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, 1992 Triennial Exhibition, juried by John Szarkowski

1989  Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Landscape Photographs from the Permanent Collection

1988  Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland, U.K, Behold the Man
The Photographer's Gallery, London, England, Behold the Man
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Image of the Male Nude, curated by Peter Weiermair, Director/Curator of Photography
Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C., Dog Days Dog Show

1987  Journal Newspapers, Springfield, Virginia, Artists in the Atrium: Current Themes in Photography in the Metropolitan Area, curated by Sharon Keim, Director, Washington Center for Photography 

Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Women Photographers from the Corcoran's Collection

1986  Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Recent Acquisitions in Photography

Decker Gallery, Maryland Institute of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, Aspects of Light (mixed media, curated by Ned Rifkin, Curator of Contemporay Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

1984  Dalsheimer Gallery, Baltimore, Maryland (Artscape)

1983  Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute College of Art, Second Annual Artscape Juried Competition
(Juror: Patterson Sims, Curator, Whitney Museum, New York)
Second Sight, Traveling exhibition of photographs from book, Second Sight

1982  Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., From the Collection: Photographs by Women
Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C., Group Show by Gallery Artists

Smithsonian InstitutionSecond Sight, Traveling exhibition of photographs from book,  Invisible Light
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 35th Anniversary Area Show

1981  Portsmouth Museum, Portsmouth, Virginia, Six Photographers
Thomas Nelson Community College, Hampton, Virginia, Six Photographers
Gallery 10 LTD., Washington, D.C., Essentially Sensuous, (mixed media, invitational exhibition)
Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, Va., Photographers x Photographers

1980  Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., Washington Photography of the Seventies 
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond Virginia, Virginia Photographers 1980 (juried by Linda Connor, selected for traveling exhibition)
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Recent Acquisitions
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Invisible Light: - An Exhibition of Infrared Photography (subsequent travel in US and Europe)

1979  Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C., Fifteen Artists
Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., Invitational Exhibition 

Wolfe Street Gallery, Washington, D.C. 

Jeb Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island, Insights
Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, New York, Insights Traveling Exhibition from Women Photograph Men 

Osuna Gallery, Washington, D.C., Group Show by Gallery Artists
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, Virginia, Three Photographers
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Recent Acquisition: Photographs
Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University, Connecticut, Recent Acquisitions

1978  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond Virginia, Virginia Photographers 1978 (juried by Thomas Barrow, work selected for traveling exhibition)
Marcuse Pfeifer Gallery, New York, The Male Nude
Susan Spiritus Gallery, Newport Beach, California,
Eight by Ten International Art Fair, Bologna, Italy (Wolfe Street Gallery)
Canon Gallery, San Francisco, California, Images from Women Photograph Men

1977  Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, Virginia, (juried by Marcia Tucker)
Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., Second Anniversary Invitational Exhibition
International Center of Photography, New York, New York, Photographs from Women See Men and Women Photograph Men
Grace Gallery, Reston, Virginia, Four Photographers
Creative Photography Gallery, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts

1976 Washington Womens Arts Center, Washington, D.C. (juried mixed media)
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Nation's Capital Photographers (juried by Samuel Wagstaff, Purchase Award)
Intuitive Eye Gallery, Washington, D.C., Self Portraits

1975  Washington Project for the Arts, Washington, D.C., Inaugural Exhibition (mixed media, selected by Alice Denney, director) 

Womansphere, Glen Echo Park, Maryland (3 judges' awards)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, Virginia (juried by Aaron Siskind)
Washington Womens Arts Center, Washington, D.C., Feminine Erotica

Public Collections

American University Museum, Washington D.C.

Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland 

Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona 

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas 

International Center of Photography, New York, New York 

New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana 

Wesleyan University Davison Art Center, Middletown, Connecticut

The Polaroid Collection


Publications


Catalogues

2023 Nature’s Tapestry, American University Museum, Essay by Ori Z. Zoltes

2019 Moves Like Walter, American University Museum

1992  Sacred Silences: Photographs of Jewish Prague , National Jewish Museum, Essay by Ori Z. Zoltes

1990 Terra Sancta, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Invisible Light 1981: a catalog of the traveling exhibition of infrared photography, organized by Robert Cartmell, SUNY-Albany, for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibitions Service, pp. 49 - 50


Anthologies

Women Photograph Men, Danielle Hayes, ed., William Morrow, New York, 1977 (#4 and #61)

Women See Men, Kalmus, Ripp, and Wiesenfeld, eds., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1977 (pp. 88 and 90)

In/Sights: Self Portraits by Women, Joyce Tennyson Cohen, ed., Godine, Boston, MA, 1978 (p. 3)

Family of Woman, Julia Scully, ed., Ridge Press, New York, 1979 (p. 106)

The Story of American Photography: An Illustrated History for Young People, by Martin Sandler, Little Brown, Boston, MA, 1979 (p.309)

SX-70, Ralph Gibson, ed., Lustrum Press, New York, 1979 (p. 84)

The Male Nude in Photography, Lawrence Barnes, ed., Vermont Crossroads Press, Waitsfield, VT, 1980 (pp. 82-85)

Frauen Sehen Männer, Peter Weiermair, editor, Frankurter Kunstverein, Verlag 'Photographie' AG, Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 1988 (pp. 20-25)

Male Nudes by Women: An Anthology, Peter Weiermair, editor and curator, Frankurter Kunstverein, Editions Stemmle AG, Zurich, Switzerland, 1995 (pp. 20-25)

Male Nude Now, David Leddick, editor, Rizzoli/Universe, New York, 2001 (pp. 220-221)

Male Bodies: A Photographic History of the Nude, Emmanuel Cooper, Prestel, 2004 (pp . 82-85)

The Nude Male: 21st Century Visions, David Leddick, editor, Rizzoli/Universe, 2008 (pp. 232-233)

Magazines

Lightwork: A Magazine for Photographers, Bill Ferris, editor, vol. 1, no. 1 (April 1975), cover photograph and portfolio 

CA75: the 16th CA Annual Communications Arts Magazine, vol. 17, no.5 (Nov/Dee 1975), award reproduction of cover of Lightwork 

Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington27th Annual Exhibition: As Others See Us, award for cover of Lightwork 

Potomac Magazine of the Washington PostWashington Photographers (May 1976)

Art in AmericaCapital Art, by David Tannous (July/August 1978), p.73 

Virginia Photographers 1978, a catalog of the traveling exhibition sponsored by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 

Art in America, Report from Washington, by David Tannous (July/August 1979), p. 24, ( photograph and review) 

The Image Continuum Journal, Sally Mann and Ted Orland, editors, vol.4, (1979), an invitational journal consisting of articles and original prints 

Washington Review, vol.4, no.6 (April-May 1979), Cover Photograph. 

Virginia Photographers 1980, a catalog of the exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, May 13-June 15 

New Virginia Review, an anthology of Virginia literary and visual work, Virginius Dabney, ed., vol.3, (1984) 

Photography Series One: Corcoran Gallery of Art, Instructional material for Discover the Corcoran Gallery of Art series, with reproductions of works by six American photographers: Ansel Adams, Walker EvansJohn GossageLewis Hine, Ronald Stark, and Bernis von zur Muehlen), Washington, D.C. (1985) 

The Subject is Women, 1988 Calendar, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 

Behold the Man, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, The Stills Gallery, (1988) 

Sing a Song of Children, 1989 Calendar, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. 

Terra Sancta: Images of Israel, Nepal, and the American West, catalogue (featuring work by Arnold KramerFrank diPernaBernis von zur MuehlenPeter von zur Muehlen Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990

New Orleans Museum Triennial Exhibit of New Southern Photography, catalogue, New Orleans, LA, 1992

Sacred Silences: Images of Jewish Prague, catalogue, essay by Ori Z. Soltes ,National Jewish Museum of the B'nai B'rith, Washington, D.C., 1992

Washington Review, vol. xxiii, no.6 (April-May 1998), Cover photograph and Artist's Statement, p.5., Photograph, p.5. 


Lectures and Presentations

Studio Visit by the Smithsonian Institution, David Tannous, instructor, 1977
Studio Visit by the Northern Virginia Community College, Joyce Tennyson, instructor, 1977
Gallery Talk, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, (in conjunction with one-person exhibition), 1978
Lecture on Infrared Photography, Catholic University, Washington, D.C., 1978 Discussion of career in photography, Mini -Course: Women in Art, Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C., 1981
Lectures on The Changing Aesthetics of Photography, University of Virginia (Aesthetics in Education, graduate course, 1987- 1991)
Gallery Talk, National Jewish Museum of the B'nai B'rith, Washington, D.C., 1992
Lecture and discussion of career as a photographer, Second Sight Group, sponsored by Fraser Gallery, Bethesda, MD, 2004


Film and Television

Photographic Image from Sacred Silences used in footage of Oestersjöar, a television documentary by Poesia Per Musica, based on the poem "Baltics" by Tomas Transtömer, a celebrated 20-th century Swedish poet. Filmmaker: Jim Wine.


Wikipedia Page



Exhibits, Publications, Collections

Using Format