Rate My Professor Marcus DeSieno

Marcus DeSieno is an Associate Professor of Photography in the Department of Art + Design at Central Washington University, where he joined the faculty in July 2017 as Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in June 2021. He serves as Head of the Photography Program and Graduate Program Coordinator. In these roles, he oversees the photography facilities, including wet darkroom and digital labs, mentors undergraduate and graduate students, recruits for the graduate program, and chairs the department's Curriculum & Assessment Committee as well as the Visiting Artist and Exhibitions Committee. DeSieno teaches a comprehensive curriculum encompassing beginning to advanced photography courses, such as Beginning Photography (Analog and Digital), Intermediate Photography (Color, Constructed Realities, Visual Narrative, Alternative Processes, Experimental Processes), Advanced Photography, and Senior Seminar Capstone. Prior to CWU, he was Visiting Professor of Photography and Andrew W. Mellon Fellow of the Arts at Marlboro College from 2016 to 2017, where he temporarily headed the photography department. He also held adjunct and instructor positions at the University of South Florida, New College of Florida, and others. DeSieno holds a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art from the University of South Florida (2015) and a Bachelor of Arts in Photography from Marlboro College (2010).

DeSieno's photographic practice critically examines surveillance, borders, violence, and environmental themes through projects such as No Man’s Land: Views from a Surveillance State, Geography of Disappearance documenting migrant deaths on the Mexico/US border, An Index of Unwarranted Violence, Surveillance Landscapes, and Cosmos. His first monograph, No Man’s Land: Views from a Surveillance State, was published by Daylight Books in 2018 with essays by Ariel Shanberg and Martha Sandweiss. His work has garnered significant recognition, including the Hariban Award Master Printer's Choice (2019), LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards winner (2016), Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50 (2016), Featureshoot Emerging Photography Awards winner (2020), and second place in LENSCRATCH Art + Science Award (2021). DeSieno has presented solo exhibitions at venues like Auburn City Gallery (2019), A.P.E ltd Gallery (2017), and Vermont Center for Photography (2015), alongside group exhibitions internationally at the Finnish Museum of Photography (2022), Musée de Albert-Khan in Paris (2022), Aperture Foundation (2020), and Photographic Center Northwest (2019, 2023 upcoming). His contributions extend to professional service, including jurying exhibitions and fellowships.